Centre should have quarantined all coming from abroad: Chhattisgarh CM

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister and Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel on Thursday blamed the central government for the spread of coronavirus in the country, saying it failed to quarantine all those coming from abroad.

Addressing a press conference through video-conferencing, Baghel said he would take a decision on whether to extend the ongoing 21-day lockdown in Chhattisgarh only after consulting the state cabinet on April 12.

He said if the lockdown is suddenly lifted, the virus could spread further.

The Congress leader said he would assess the Centre's response to the question of extending the lockdown during the prime minister's meeting with chief ministers on the issue on April 11.

"We are looking forward to the Centre's response on the lockdown extension on April 11 during the PM's meeting with chief ministers. Thereafter, a meeting of the Chhattisgarh cabinet will be held on April 12 to decide the future course of action," Baghel said.

"There should be more discussions with states and the views of all states should be taken by the Centre before arriving at a decision on whether to extend the lockdown," he added.

Odisha became the first state on Thursday to extend the lockdown till April 30.

Asked about who should be held responsible for the coronavirus outbreak in the country, Baghel said the Centre should have conducted screenings of all those coming from abroad and kept them in quarantine.

"Had the government stopped the international flights and kept all those coming to the country in quarantine, this virus could not have spread across the country and a lot of problems people are facing today could have been averted," he said.

The Centre, he said, did not consult anyone before imposing the lockdown and it was done so suddenly that it led to confusion and chaos across the country.

Replying to a question on whether he holds last month's Tablighi Jamaat religious congregation in Delhi responsible for the spread of the virus, the Congress leader said no religious colour should be given to it, but did not give a clean chit to the organisers of the religious gathering.

"I am not saying they are innocent. But the government had the list of all those coming from abroad. It should have identified and quarantined them," he said.

The Chhattisgarh chief minister called for increasing the number of COVID-19 tests across the country while noting that people with no symptoms have been found to be carrying the virus.

Baghel called upon the prime minister to increase the amount given to Jan Dhan beneficiaries to Rs 750 from the current Rs 500.

He said he has written to the prime minister demanding that daily wagers should be paid Rs 1,000 per month for the next three months.

He said the state would soon start the process of random sampling, as so far only 3,000 people have been tested for the virus. There have been only 11 positive cases of coronavirus so far in Chhattisgarh, he said.