Chandigarh, February 20
Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh today urged the Centre to consult the state before fixing priorities for Covid vaccination as it was a matter involving the population.
As the portal created by the Centre for registration of healthcare workers was not working, several frontline workers, willing for vaccination, had been left behind, he pointed out, calling upon the Centre to allow the entry of such workers.
In his circulated speech at the Niti Aayog meeting, the CM also requested the Centre to allow 100 per cent use of the SDRF towards the expenditure for the Covid management, instead of the present ceiling of 50 per cent. The state might also be allowed to utilise the previous years available funds, he suggested.
Captain Amarinder also urged the Centre to provide immediate financial assistance of at least Rs 300 crore to upgrade health infrastructure, equipment and other healthcare needs.
For the effective service delivery at health and wellness centres, liberal grants for the strengthening of infrastructure, drugs and diagnostic should be provided by the Centre, said he. He also sought the creation of a “Water Quality Kosh” in every state to enable Punjab to achieve the vision of providing potable water to each rural household on a sustainable basis. He requested the government to consider the Gurdaspur Medical College project on priority to provide better healthcare in the border district. — TNS
Consult us over Covid priorities, says CM
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