Rise in COVID cases after return of state's residents: Himachal Pradesh CM

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said that there is a noticeable increase in COVID-19 cases in the state following the return of residents who were stranded in other parts of the country, especially in containment zones with many cases.

Addressing a press conference in Dharamshala on Saturday, the chief minister reiterated that no previous government had any experience to tackle a pandemic-like situation of such proportions as COVID-19 but asserted that the government was handling it well.

The state has reported a total of 3,151 coronavirus cases till Friday with 13 deaths so far.

“During this pandemic, the entire world including India is facing an economic crisis. Himachal [Pradesh] too suffered an economic loss of around Rs 1,300 crore in the first quarter of financial year 2020-21. Our financial liabilities have increased by Rs 737 crore due to some budget announcements," Thakur said.

He added that salaries, wages and pensions of government employees have been disbursed on time thanks to the Central government that has not reduced the state's financial dues.

Thakur added that the private sector including tourism, transport and other businesses had faced its worst crisis and the revenue loss is estimated to be around Rs 30,000 crore but there are green shoots with these sectors slowly coming back on track.

Though public movement is almost unrestricted in the country after Unlock 3, he claimed that HP is the only state in north India that is still registering the incoming people entering the state to keep a track of their contacts for monitoring during the pandemic.

Bringing back stranded people of HP was the duty of the state government, Thakur said, adding that around 2.5 lakh Himachalis were brought back so far by the state government from the rest of the country.

The CM said many talented people with various skills have also returned to the state during this period and the government has made provisions to enable them register online to link them to the relevant industries for re-employment.

He said, “Some people criticised our guidelines for the tourists but none of the tourists have been reported positive for coronavirus so far. After Unlock 1, we opened the public transport with initial occupancy at just 10 per cent but it is now picking up slowly and has reached 40 per cent.” He said the government is now emphasising on the pace of development works so that the economy could be geared up. “We came to know that around Rs 12,000 crore are lying unspent in various departments. So, we have instructed officials to take up these works on priority,” the chief minister further said.