Jharkhand Government on Tuesday declared Mucormycosis commonly referred to as black fungus as an epidemic and also issued a detailed guideline and protocols to be followed whenever a case of black fungus is detected.
The decision was taken during the Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Hemant Soren.
“A number of cases of Mucormycosis among Covid-19 patients have been seen during and after treatment of Covid-19. Now, the black fungus has been declared an epidemic under Epidemic Diseases Act 1897 and Jharkhand Covid-19 Regulation 2020. A detailed guideline has been issued and hospitals will have to inform the Government if a patient is diagnosed with Mucormycosis,” said Secretary of Cabinet Coordination Vandana Dadel.
In Jharkhand so far 82 confirmed cases of Mucormycosis have been reported whereas 54 other cases were suspected to be Mucormycosis.
So far 26 persons have died due to Mucormycosis and 52 recovered. Ranchi so far topped with 30 confirmed cases of Mucormycosis followed by East Singhbhum district.
The Cabinet took another major decision to give job extension to Government teaching and non-teaching doctors, who are set to retire by March 2022.
Those who are retiring between May to September 2021; their service has been extended till March 2022, whereas those retiring between October 31, 2021 and March 31, 2022; their service will be extended further for six month which will be counted from the date of their retirement.
The Government took the decision in the wake of the outbreak of Covid-19. As the third wave of Covid-19 is also feared the Government needs more doctors to strengthen health infrastructure.
The Government also conceded the outstanding demand of personnel of Special Auxiliary Police (SAP) for benefits at par with Jharkhand Police in case of death due to naxal violence, compensation and job on compensatory ground. In SAP the Government hires retired army personnel on contract and they are also deployed during anti naxal operations.
“Now if a personnel of SAP dies during duty due to naxal violence the compensation will be given to the family besides a fourth grade job in police to one of the family members,” Dadel said.
The Cabinet also agreed to start the Central Government’s scheme SVAMITVA (Survey of villages and mapping with improvised technology in village areas).
This scheme is an initiative of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj that aims to provide rural people with the right to document their residential properties so that they can use their property for economic purposes.
It will also fix the boundary of their village. The scheme is for surveying the land parcels in rural inhabited areas using Drone technology.
The survey will be done across the country in a phase wise manner over the period 2020 -2025. The scheme is proposed as a central sector scheme with a projected outlay of Rs 79.65 crores for the pilot phase 2020 -21. The scheme will be started in Khunti district on a pilot project basis.