Hummingbird News Desk
KOLKATA, 27 MAY: The West Bengal government, on Thursday, extended statewide restrictions till 15 June to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the state. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee made the announcement on Thursday and clarified that the restrictions are ‘not a lockdown or a curfew’.
“Ongoing Covid-19 restrictions extended till 15 June in Bengal… The pandemic situation in Bengal eased a little because of existing restrictions… This is not a lockdown or a curfew. We will strictly follow the restrictions,” said Miss Banerjee during a press briefing.
Congratulating the people for cooperating with the state government that has led to the slow-down of the Covid infection rate, Miss Banerjee said, “Though the infection rate has reduced, the state government has decided to continue on with the restrictions for another 15 days. We are thankful that the people have cooperated with us and we have started getting good results but I urge the people to bear the hardship for a little longer. We will review the situation on June 15 and then decide the next course of action”.
The ongoing restrictions in West Bengal were slated to end on 30 May. In May, the state government had imposed restrictions on shopping malls, cinemas, beauty parlours, gyms, restaurants and other non-essential activities and said that they will remain closed till further notice. The restrictions were imposed initially for a period of 15 days but were extended in a bid to counter the spread of COVID-19.
After a surge, West Bengal’s COVID-19 tally is finally on the decline. On Wednesday, 16,225 people tested positive for COVID-19. 153 fatalities were reported in various parts of the state.
According to the Health Department, West Bengal has over 1,23 lakh active cases of COVID-19. Over 11.80 lakh patients have recovered from the deadly disease.
Speaking on the occasion of a review meeting with the officials related to relief and rescue work, CM Banerjee said that the government has sanctioned a fund of Rs 1,000 crore for the relief measures but she cautioned that the money should go to the right beneficiaries. Detailing out the mechanism which is in line with ‘Duare Sarkar, the chief minister said, “From June 3 to June 18 there will be relief camps in the affected blocks and Gram Panchayats,where the people will come and register themselves giving the details of their damage along with their personal and bank details. Like ‘Duare Sarkar’ it will be ‘Duare Relief’.
“The government will inspect all the applications for the next 15 days – from June 16 to June 30 — and make a list of the beneficiaries. Once the list of beneficiaries is prepared, the state finance department will start disbursing funds according to the damage and the estimation prepared at the block and panchayat level. The entire disbursement process will be complete by July 8. The money will be transferred directly to the account of the beneficiaries. There will be nobody in between. The transaction will be directly done to the beneficiary by the government,” she added.
