UP to make sectoral plans to leverage Rs 20 trn Covid-19 package

Plans will cover farmers, MSME, street vendors, among others; state seeks to attain self-reliance on the basis of these plans to be drafted under the aegis of central package announced by PM Modi

Close on the heels of the Centre's announcement of a Rs 20 trillion relief package to overcome covid-19 headwinds, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to frame sectoral plans to leverage the largesse.

UP chief minister Adityanath, chairing a review meeting in Lucknow today, directed departmental heads to brainstorm and come up with concrete action plans pertaining to verticals like animal husbandry, agriculture, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME), street vendors, youth, labourers, workers, and students, to take advantage of the big package announced by the Centre.

“The CM has asked senior officials to submit their composite proposals, which would be sent to the Centre for approval,” UP additional chief secretary Awanish Kumar Awasthi said here this evening.

The state is seeking to attain self-reliance on the basis of these plans to be drafted under the aegis of the central package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a televised address on Tuesday evening.

According to Adityanath, the package will help the country effectively tackle the covid-19 crisis and strengthen the domestic economy.

Meanwhile, nearly 1.5 million migrant labourers have so far returned to UP by trains, buses and other means after the lockdown was announced in March. Of these, nearly 650,000 labourers had returned between March 1 and April 30 via the Delhi border.

Subsequently, when the Centre announced to run interstate ‘Shramik Special’ trains to ferry stranded workers, about 564,000 workers arrived in UP by trains from different states.

Besides, more than 150,000 people have returned by their own means and private vehicles, while about 70,000 people, including students from Kota, have arrived in the state by roadways buses.

So far, 449 trains have come to UP from states like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan etc. Of these, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Punjab account for the maximum number of trains at nearly 400, Awasthi informed.

The UP roadways corporation has deployed a fleet of about 12,000 buses to ferry labourers from other states or to take them from the railway stations to their places.

Meanwhile, taking cognisance of a spate of road accidents involving migrant workers, Adityanath has directed officials to disallow people to venture on foot or unauthorised means in their desperation to return to UP.

“We are operating the largest service of trains and buses to ferry its workers from other states. Therefore, they should exercise patience and avail of these services to come back,” he noted.

The government has also issued the guidelines for allowing the covid-19 patients to shift to their own residences for home quarantine, if they have a separate lavatory and undertake to follow the social distancing norms. The government is boosting pool testing due to the influx of stranded labourers.