Rajasthan Minister urges CM to get RS poll deferred

Rajasthan Cabinet Minister Vishwendra Singh on Sunday appealed to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot to get the date of Rajya Sabha election in the state extended that is scheduled to be held on March 26 due to an alarming situation of health crisis caused by the surging cases of coronavirus.

Singh has also urged Chief Minister Gehlot to write a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner in this regard.

"I also appeal to all MLAs to be careful and I will see for myself if anything happens," Singh said.

The state government has ordered total lockdown in the state till March 31, barring essential services, amid spiralling coronavirus cases in the country.

Chief Minister Gehlot's office issued a press note late on Saturday evening announcing the lockdown from March 22 to March 31 in order to check the spread of coronavirus that has claimed over 11,500 lives worldwide so far.

All the government and private offices, malls, shops, factories, and public transport will be closed. The decision came after the Chief Minister chaired a review meeting over the coronavirus situation in the state.

The Chief Minister has directed the officials to ensure the supply of sufficient food items during the lockdown. He has also instructed that more than one crore families linked to the National Food Security Act should be given wheat for free till May.

Gehlot has also instructed to provide free packets of essential food items for two months from April 1 to street vendors, daily wage labourers and such needy families who are outside the NFSA list in urban areas. These packets will be made available in collaboration with district administration and municipalities.

The Chief Minister has appealed that no worker should be removed from their job in the closed factories during the lockdown and they should be given paid leave for this period. For this, he has directed the Labour Department to keep in touch with factory managers.

The Chief Minister said that all types of pensioners do not have to face financial problems and hence the distribution of social security pension to the beneficiaries will be done by the first week of April.

There are a total of 26 positive cases of coronavirus in the state, Additional Chief Secretary, Health, Rohit Kumar Singh said on Sunday.