In view of the coronavirus pandemic, the Uttar Pradesh government is working on two fronts – it has taken up the challenge to provide jobs to around 90 lakh workers and also to improve the health facilities at hospitals to treat COVID-19 patients .
On the direction of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, attempts are being made to turn the state into a micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) hub with a target to set up 90 lakh new units to provide an equal number of jobs.
A mega loan mela will be organised in the state from May 12 to 20 to provide loans to new MSME and industrial units that want to set up units in the state.
On the other hand, UP has become the first state in the country to provide 54,000 beds in the dedicated Covid hospitals while also setting up a record by providing ventilators in all the 75 districts of the state.
An official said that the chief minister, during Team 11 meeting here, ordered relaxation in getting no objection certificate (NOC) for setting up MSME unit in the state.
“Now the NOC will be given in 100 days and they (MSME units) will also be entitled to relaxation in labour laws for 1,000 days,” the official said.
Except for environmental norms, all the rules of NOC have been relaxed and a time frame has been set up for giving the NOC by the department concerned. The system has been made fully automatic for hassle-free sanctions.
The official said that any entrepreneur could seek loan by applying online. The government has already set up a single window for helping MSMEs and new industrial units to be set up in the state.
The UP government has already relaxed the labour laws so that the manufacturing units do not face trouble.
Besides, the chief minister has asked authorities to make UP a ready-made garment hub of Asia .
In the health sector, the government has provided 54,000 isolation beds in dedicated Covid Level-1, Level-2 and Level-3 hospitals in the state while all districts have been provided ventilators.
“The first COVID-19 case in UP was detected on March 3 and at that time 36 out of 75 districts did not have any ventilator,” the official said, adding that within two months all the districts had ventilators.
During the meeting, the chief minister directed senior doctors to personally monitor the treatment of COVID-19 patients in their hospitals.
He also said that doctors, technicians and other paramedic staff should be given training on prevention of infection.
The chief minister also directed officials to enforce lockdown strictly and keep additional vigil at inter-state and international borders.
He said no person should be seen walking back to his or her native place.
Yogi also issued directive that a team of senior officers be sent to Agra, Meerut and Kanpur (Nagar) where coronavirus cases are high.
He asked Principal Secretary (Industrial Development) Alok Kumar and Principal Secretary (Medical Education) Dr. Rajneesh Dubey to camp in Agra along with a senior doctor from Sanjay Gandhi Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences and a police officer. Principal Secretary (Irrigation) T. Venkatesh was asked to camp in Meerut along with senior doctors and senior officers.
The chief minister also said that adequate supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) kits, N-95 masks and sanitiser be made to all hospitals.
“Cleanliness and sanitation in the community kitchens should be maintained and the quality of food should be maintained. Daily health check-up community kitchen staff should be done,” he said.
Yogi stressed the need of publicising and promoting the utility of Ayush Kavach-Covid’ mobile app as it contained information on Ayurveda and Yoga. “It will help people in enhancing their immunity,” he said.
The chief minister asked officials to ramp up testing for coronavirus and stressed on involving principals of medical colleges, doctors, paramedics and teachers and principals of intermediate and degree colleges in prevention and training against COVID-19.