Akhilesh Yadav offers to help UP CM Yogi Adityanath fight COVID by mobilising SP cadre

Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday offered to help to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in distributing Corona-relief materials.

In a statement, the SP chief said that if the state government is ready to rise above the political lines, then his party workers will help is distributing essential commodities to people in the rural areas. He further stated that the SP will also help in the distribution of the mid-day meals. 

Akhilesh has asked the state government to disclose the current total amount of food grains and to provide succour to farmers who were unable to harvest due to lack of labour. According to him, the farmers are worried about selling their crops amid the lockdown situation. He further urged the government to address the situation. 

No pay cuts in UP

The Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday said that the salaries of its employees will neither be deferred nor cut amid the coronavirus lockdown and its impact on revenues. Additional Chief Secretary Awanish Awasthi quoted Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and stated that the condition of the state’s economy is strong and it would deal with the challenge posed by the pandemic, without pay cut of employees. There would be no cut or deferment in the salaries of state government employees, Awasthi said, quoting the chief minister.

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The Coronavirus crisis

As per the latest figures, there are over 2060 coronavirus positive cases in India. While 53 deaths have been reported overall, 156 people have also been cured/discharged/migrated.

Read: ICMR approves rapid-antibody testing for populations in Coronavirus hotspot areas

On March 24, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced a 21-day lockdown in the entire country effective from midnight of March 25 to deal with the spread of coronavirus, saying that "social distancing" is the only option to deal with the disease, which spreads rapidly. The 21-day curfew is applicable to all states, districts, and villages - irrespective of whether they were earlier under curfew or not.

Read: Yogi Adityanath announces no salary cut for UP govt employees amid coronavirus lockdown

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