Haryana increases ex-gratia for those engaged in combating COVID-19

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday said the ex gratia amount for doctors will be Rs 50 lakh, Rs 30 lakh for nurses and Rs 20 lakh for other employees whether government or contractual.

Chief Minister Khattar, in a televised address to the state, also informed the people about the steps being taken by the State government to fight against the coronavirus and appealed to the people not to believe in any rumours being circulated on social media or through any other medium.

Allaying the doubts of the farmers of the State, he said that there is no need for the farmers to worry as each and every grain will be bought. He said that though there might be a delay in the procurement, procurement will be done.

He said that since it is not possible to make procurements till April 14, we have made arrangements for the procurement of mustard and wheat to start on April 15 and April 20, respectively if the situation is favourable.

Till then he has appealed to the farmers to stock the grain in their homes. In case any farmer is having trouble doing the same, the Marketing Board has been directed to look into the matter, he added.

He said the State government has launched a new website -- covidssharyana.in -- for the registration of any shop, a store owner who desires to register to offer services by delivering items in order to help the people of the state and fight against the spread of coronavirus may register on this website.

He informed that extensive arrangements have been made through District and Police Administration to deliver all kinds of daily essential commodities to the people.

He said that in the last four days since the registration was open, 33,000 people have registered themselves as volunteers, which include 546 doctors, 255 nurses, 1108 paramedical, 4,700 home delivery assistants, 5,700 social distancing communication, 5,700 for public communication, 6,200 for supporting the district administration have been included.

The Chief Minister said that under the Mukhyamantri Parivar Samridhi Yojana, 12.56 lakh families got registered to date. Out of this, 2.76 lakh families have been given a lump sum assistance of Rs 84.46 crore in two instalments of Rs 4,000.

Similarly, it is decided to give Rs. 1,000 per week to 3.85 lakh workers registered with the Construction Workers Board. Apart from this, BPL families will also be given Rs 1,000 per week and for the families, who are not in the BPL list, separate arrangements will be made for their registration.

The Chief Minister appealed to the people of the state to come forward to give their suggestions or share any problems related to the department related to COVID-19. For this, helpline numbers 1075 and 1100 have been issued.