Himachal Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Saturday directed the officers to prepare a list of beneficiaries of various welfare schemes of the Government so that the State Government could maintain better coordination and liaison with the beneficiaries.
Holding a video conference with the Deputy Commissioners and Block Development Officers of the State from Shimla, he said the COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to work with greater dedication by adopting different strategies.
He expressed satisfaction that all the developmental activities of the State were going uninterrupted even in this testing time.
Thakur said it was essential that we constantly interact with the beneficiaries and also have a mechanism to get their feedback regarding various schemes, directing the BDOs to have a detailed database at panchayat level regarding beneficiaries so that the same could be available at a click of a button.
Chief Minister said that in the first phase the State Government has decided that beneficiaries of schemes such as Ayushman Bharat and HIMCARE, Ujjawala yojna and Grihini Suvidha Yojna, housing schemes like Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojna, Mukhyamantri Aawas Yojna, workers registered with Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, ASHA workers, Pradhan Mantri Kissan Samman Nidhi, Social Security Pension beneficiaries, Sahara Yojna, Jan Dhan Yojna etc would be listed.
Thakur said the list of beneficiaries of these schemes must be provided to the panchayats and must be readily available with them by 10th of this month.
He directed the BDOs to get the webex software loaded in the mobiles of the beneficiaries and also train them regarding its use. He said that display panels should be installed in each panchayat so that video conferences being held by him could be displayed to the general public.
TOURISTS ALLOWED TO VISIT HIMACHAL WITH COVID-19 NEGATIVE REPORT AND HOTEL BOOKING OF 5 DAYS
Himachal Pradesh has allowed entry of tourists with conditions such as a test report showing negative for COVID-19 and a prior hotel booking of at least five days, about three-and-a-half-months after a ban was imposed to check the spread of the novel coronavirus. In an order issued by the chief secretary-cum-chairperson of state executive committee (SEC), Anil Kumar Khachi, on Thursday, the state government relaxed the ban as part of the phased reopening from the coronavirus-induced lockdown -- Unlock-2
."Tourists with valid booking, preferably for durations not less than five days and having been tested for COVID-19 by an ICMR-accredited laboratory not earlier than 72 hours at the time of entry may also be exempted from the requirement of quarantine," the order stated.
All inter-state movement will be monitored through registration in the COVID e-pass software. "The people coming to Himachal Pradesh from other states shall strictly adhere to the prevailing guidelines/standard operating procedure (SOP) issued by the health and revenue departments of the state," the order stated.
The order, however, does not mention the exact date from which tourists may visit the state. The hilly state barred entry of tourists in March to check the spread of coronavirus. Further, inter-state bus service will remain suspended till further orders.