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RESPONSE TO
C VID -19
SERIES – 1, Vol3
POLICY RESPONSE OF THE
UNION & STATE GOVERNMENTS
AS ON 17 APRIL 2020
APRAJITA VERMA | GANESH MARUVADA | RAJEEV AGUR
FACULTY MENTOR: ASEEM PRAKASH
SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY AND GOVERNANCE
TATA INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
HYDERABAD
About the Series:
The School of Public Policy & Governance, TISS Hyderabad, is
collaborating and supporting the initiative undertaken by its alumnus to
document the response of Union and State Governments to address the
Health, Livelihood and other Welfare concerns posed by COVID-19. This
initiative documents the response from the Union and State Governments,
Reserve Bank of India, Civil Society, and Business Houses/Leaders.
In the third volume of the series, an attempt has been made to update
all the initiatives and announcements made by the State and the Union
Government since the outbreak of COVID-19 till 17th April 2020. The
policy response has been classified under - a) Preventive measures, b)
Medical and Health measures, c) Meeting the Welfare Needs of Diverse
Social Groups, d) Measures taken by RBI.
Note: As we understand, this documentation is a dynamic exercise and will
require constant upgradation. We will attempt to add the new initiatives
regularly and disseminate it widely. All views expressed in this document
are personal and has no relation to any affiliated institution.
Sources: All the information has been taken from official GOs, press
conferences of Union Ministers, Chief Ministers, and senior officials and
tweets from official handles. The authors have taken due diligence to ensure
the accuracy of the information presented in this document. Any
inadvertent omissions/lapses are deeply regretted. Please inform of any
such omissions at sppg.secretariat@tiss.edu. Immediate measures will be
taken to correct the information.
About the Authors:
Aprajita Verma, alumnus of the batch 2017-19, is currently a Senior Research Associate at Factly Media
and Research. LinkedIn
Ganesh Maruvada, alumnus of the batch 2014-16, is currently a Political Analyst at PoliticalEDGE LinkedIn
Rajeev Agur, alumnus of the batch 2014-16, is currently Assistant Manager – Government Relations at
Bounce. LinkedIn
2
Faculty Mentor:
Page
Aseem Prakash, Professor & Chairperson, School of Public Policy and Governance, Tata Institute of Social
Sciences, Hyderabad.
CONTENTS
POLICY UPDATES FROM 6th APRIL to 17th APRIL 2020 04
▪ State wise Status 05
▪ Summary Table 06
▪ Union Government 07
▪ Reserve Bank of India 10
▪ State Governments & Union Territories 14
POLICY UPDATES FROM 1st APRIL to 5th APRIL 2020 21
▪ State wise Status 22
▪ Summary Table 23
▪ Union Government 24
▪ Reserve Bank of India 28
▪ State Governments & Union Territories 30
POLICY UPDATES UNTIL 31st MARCH 2020 35
▪ State wise Status 36
▪ Summary Table 37
▪ Union Government 38
▪ Reserve Bank of India 46
▪ State Governments & Union Territories 50
▪ Unique Measures by State Governments & UTs 53
3
Page
POLICY UPDATES – 6th APRIL - 17th APRIL 2020
4Page
COVID-19 STATEWISE STATUS
Name of State / UT Total Confirmed Cured/Dischar Death
cases ged/Migrated
Andaman and 11 10 0
Nicobar Islands
Andhra Pradesh 534 20 14
Arunachal Pradesh 1 0 0
Assam 35 5 1
Bihar 80 37 1
Chandigarh 21 9 0
Chhattisgarh 33 23 0
Delhi 1640 51 38
Goa 7 6 0
Gujarat 930 73 36
Haryana 205 43 3
Himachal Pradesh 35 16 1
Jammu and Kashmir 314 38 4
Jharkhand 28 0 2
Karnataka 315 82 13
Kerala 395 245 3
Ladakh 18 14 0
Madhya Pradesh 1120 64 53
Maharashtra 3205 300 194
Manipur 2 1 0
Meghalaya 7 0 1
Mizoram 1 0 0
Nagaland# 0 0 0
Odisha 60 19 1
Puducherry 7 1 0
Punjab 186 27 13
Rajasthan 1131 164 3
Tamil Nadu 1267 180 15
Telengana 700 186 18
Tripura 2 1 0
Uttarakhand 37 9 0
Uttar Pradesh 805 74 13
West Bengal 255 51 10
Total number of
5
confirmed cases in 13387 1749 437
Page
India
Source: https://www.mohfw.gov.in/ accessed on 17th April, 3:46 PMTOTAL NUMBER OF GOVERNMENT ORDERS (UNION AND STATE GOVERNMENTS)
The following table numerically elaborates number of government orders issued in order to address the issues arising
due to COVID-19 Pandemic.
The column Citizen indicates welfare-centric advisories and orders pertaining to preventive measures, emergency
relief and assistance, and other communications. The column Government indicates advisories and orders meant for
government offices/establishments for governance of health emergency.
Union/State Citizen Government Total Union/State Citizen Government Total
Union Government 168 118 286 Lakshadweep 2 1 3
Andaman and 15 36 51 Madhya Pradesh 24 35 59
Nicobar Islands
Andhra Pradesh 49 51 100 Maharashtra 22 10 32
Arunachal Pradesh 30 16 46 Manipur 16 4 20
Assam 20 2 22 Meghalaya 64 25 89
Bihar 35 36 71 Mizoram 98 19 117
Chandigarh 16 32 48 Nagaland 79 25 104
Chhattisgarh 22 19 41 Odisha 48 58 106
Dadra and Nagar 2 0 2 Puducherry 4 3 7
Haveli and Daman
and Diu
Delhi 24 23 47 Punjab 53 18 71
Goa 77 14 91 Rajasthan 75 23 98
Gujarat 32 18 50 Sikkim 36 9 45
Haryana 54 22 76 Tamil Nadu 46 21 67
Himachal Pradesh 61 49 110 Telangana 24 16 40
Jammu and Kashmir 2 11 13 Tripura 6 2 8
Jharkhand 12 9 21 Uttar Pradesh 28 31 59
Karnataka 53 51 104 Uttarakhand 46 8 54
Kerala 84 61 145 West Bengal 36 55 91
Ladakh 1 1 2
Total GOs issued by Union Government: 286
Total GOs collectively issued by all the States and UTs: 2396
6 PageUNION
GOVERNMENT
7Page1 UNION GOVERNMENT
1. Welfare Measures:
o To issue all the pending income-tax refunds up to ₹5 lakhs immediately.
o To issue all pending GST and Custom refunds which would provide benefit to
around 1 lakh business entities, including MSME. The total refund granted will
be approximately ₹18,000 crores.
o To ensure uninterrupted supply of food grains to NGOs and Charitable
Organizations, Government has directed FCI to provide Wheat and Rice to
such organizations at the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) rates without
going through the e-auction process.
o During the six month period from March 24, 2020, to 23 September 2020 if
any worker or officer of the Food Corporation of India dies due to COVID-19
infection while on duty with FCI, the Regular FCI Labour will get an Ex-gratia
of ₹15 lakh, Contractual Labour will be entitled to ₹lakh, Category-1 Officers
₹35 lakh, Category-2 – ₹30 lakh and Category -3 & -4 workers – ₹25 lakh.
2. Health and Medical
o To tackle the training need of healthcare workers, MoHRD launched iGOT app
o In respect of term loans, insurers are permitted to grant a moratorium of three
months towards payment of instalments falling due between 1st March 2020
and 31st May 2020.
o The repayment schedule for such loans and the residual tenor will be shifted
across the board by three months after the moratorium period.
o Interest shall continue to accrue on the outstanding portion of the term loans
during such moratorium period.
o Approved the India COVlD-19 Emergency Response and Health system
preparedness package. This package is fully (100%) Centrally funded.
o Till September 2020, an exemption has been granted on basic customs duty and
health cess on import of ventilators, masks, PPEs, test kits, and inputs used to
manufacture these.
o Partial withdrawals shall be permitted to fulfil financial needs of the
subscribers, if required to him/her against the request placed for partial
withdrawals towards the treatment of illness of subscriber, his legally wedded
spouse, children, including a legally adopted child or dependent parents as
mentioned in regulation 8(1)(A)(d) of the said regulations.
o Government of India, respective State, Union Territories and respective police
authorities are directed to provide the necessary Police security to the Doctors
and medical staff in Hospitals and in places where the patients who have been
diagnosed, COVID-19 or patients suspected of COVID-19 or those quarantined
are housed.
o Necessary Police security is also extended to Doctors and other medical staff
who visit places to conduct screening of people to find out symptoms of the
8
disease.
Page3. Mental Health
o GoI has released an advisory regarding the social stigma associated with
COVID-19
4. Preventive Measures
o Public Health Engineering Departments/ Boards/ Nigams of the State
Governments need to accord top priority for taking measures to augment
supply in areas where the water supply may be deficient as of now and special
care may be given to vulnerable sections of the society like people residing in
relief camps, places of quarantine, hospitals, old age homes, poor strata of
society, slums, etc.
o It will be appropriate to integrate the identified needs of potable water in the
micro-plans of the districts being formulated to combat the spread of COVID-
19 disease.
o Wherever chemical treatment for enhancing the safety of potable water is
required, appropriate purifying chemicals like Chlorine tablets, bleaching
powder, Sodium hypochlorite solution, Alum, etc. as may be needed, should
be used.
o It is possible that demand during this period may go up and if people have to
fetch water from the public stand post, supply hours may be required to be
increased to ensure social distancing.
o Further, the existing grievance redressal mechanism may be strengthened so
that any interruption in the water supply can be immediately brought to the
notice of all the concerned and timely action can be ensured to reinstate the
supply.
o Guidance on: Enabling Delivery of Essential Health Services during the
COVID 19 Outbreak.
9
PageRESERVE BANK
OF INDIA
10
Page2 RESERVE BANK OF INDIA
To provide greater flexibility to the State Governments to tide over their cash flow mismatches,
RBI has decided to
a) increase the number of days for which a State/ UT can be in overdraft continuously to 21
working days from the current stipulation of 14 working days.
b) the number of days for which a State/ UT can be in overdraft in a quarter has been
increased to 50 working days from the current stipulation of 36 working days. All other
stipulations remain unchanged.
This arrangement will come into force with immediate effect and will remain valid until
September 30, 2020.
Additional Measures
RBI is taking further measures to (i) maintain adequate liquidity in the system and its
constituents in the face of COVID-19 related dislocations; (ii) facilitate and incentivise bank
credit flows; (iii) ease financial stress; and (iv) enable the normal functioning of markets.
Liquidity Management
Targeted Long-Term Operations (TLTRO) 2.0
It has been decided to conduct targeted long-term repo operations (TLTRO 2.0) for an aggregate
amount of ₹50,000 crores, to begin with, in tranches of appropriate sizes. The funds availed by
banks under TLTRO 2.0 should be invested in investment-grade bonds, commercial paper, and
non-convertible debentures of NBFCs, with at least 50 per cent of the total amount availed going
to small and mid-sized NBFCs and MFIs.
Refinancing Facilities for All India Financial Institutions (AIFIs)
It has been decided to provide special refinance facilities for a total amount of ₹50,000 crores to
NABARD, SIDBI and NHB to enable them to meet sectoral credit needs. This will comprise
₹25,000 crores to NABARD for refinancing regional rural banks (RRBs), cooperative banks and
microfinance institutions (MFIs); ₹15,000 crores to SIDBI for on-lending/refinancing; and ₹
10,000 crores to NHB for supporting housing finance companies (HFCs). Advances under this
facility will be charged at the RBI’s policy repo rate at the time of availing.
Liquidity Adjustment Facility: Fixed Rate Reverse Repo Rate
In order to encourage banks to deploy the surplus funds (On April 15, the amount absorbed under
reverse repo operations was ₹6.9 lakh crore) in investments and loans in productive sectors of the
economy, it has been decided to reduce the fixed-rate reverse repo rate under the liquidity
adjustment facility (LAF) by 25 basis points from 4.0 per cent to 3.75 per cent with immediate
11
effect.
PageWays and Means Advances for States
On April 1, 2020 the RBI had announced an increase in the ways and means advances (WMA)
limit of states by 30 per cent. It has now been decided to increase the WMA limit of states by 60
per cent over and above the level as on March 31, 2020, to provide greater comfort to the states
for undertaking COVID-19 containment and mitigation efforts, and to plan their market borrowing
programmes better. The increased limit will be available till September 30, 2020.
Regulatory Measures:
Asset Classification
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) has taken cognizance of the financial and
economic impact of COVID-19 and very recently announced that “the payment moratorium
periods (Public or granted by banks on a voluntary basis) relating to the COVID-19 outbreak can
be excluded by banks from the number of days past due” in respect of NPA recognition.
It has been decided that in respect of all accounts for which lending institutions decide to grant
moratorium or deferment, and which were standard as on March 1, 2020, the 90-day NPA norm
shall exclude the moratorium period, i.e., there would an asset classification standstill for all such
accounts from March 1, 2020 to May 31, 2020. NBFCs, which are required to comply with Indian
Accounting Standards (IndAS), may be guided by the guidelines duly approved by their boards
and as per advisories of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) in recognition of
impairments. In other words, NBFCs have flexibility under the prescribed accounting standards to
consider such relief to their borrowers.
With the objective of ensuring that banks maintain sufficient buffers and remain adequately
provisioned to meet future challenges, they will have to maintain the higher provision of 10 per
cent on all such accounts under the standstill, spread over two quarters, i.e., March 2020 and June
2020. These provisions can be adjusted later on against the provisioning requirements for actual
slippages in such accounts.
Extension of Resolution Timeline
Recognizing the challenges to the resolution of stressed assets in the current volatile environment,
it has been decided that the period for resolution plan shall be extended by 90 days.
Distribution of Dividend
It has been decided that in view of the COVID-19-related economic shock, scheduled commercial
banks and cooperative banks shall not make any further dividend payouts from profits pertaining
to the financial year ended March 31, 2020, until further instructions. This restriction shall be
reviewed on the basis of the financial position of banks for the quarter ending September 30, 2020.
12
PageLiquidity Coverage Ratio
In order to ease the liquidity position at the level of individual institutions, the LCR requirement
for Scheduled Commercial Banks is being brought down from 100 per cent to 80 per cent with
immediate effect. The requirement shall be gradually restored back in two phases – 90 per cent by
October 1, 2020, and 100 per cent by April 1, 2021.
NBFC Loans to Commercial Real Estate Projects
In terms of the extant guidelines for banks, the date for commencement for commercial operations
(DCCO) in respect of loans to commercial real estate projects delayed for reasons beyond the
control of promoters can be extended by an additional one year, over and above the one-year
extension permitted in the normal course, without treating the same as restructuring. It has now
been decided to extend similar treatment to loans given by NBFCs to commercial real estate. This
will provide relief to NBFCs as well as the real estate sector.
13
PageSTATES &
UTs
14
Page3 STATES & UTs
Welfare Measures
(food security, migrant/unorganised/low income families/farmers/ senior citizens)
State/UT Type of Intervention
o Recruited nearly 1.50 lakh village secretariats and volunteers to strengthen
Andhra
village administration and grass root delivery of essential commodities to all
Pradesh
the households.
o Launched a helpline for patients of cancer, heart surgery, and kidney
transplant stuck outside Assam. Government to provide financial assistance
Assam to such patients after due verification.
o Helpline launched to provide financial assistance for people stranded outside
Assam, in other parts of India.
o Electricity traffic cut by 10 paise per unit across all slabs and monthly metre
fee is waived.
Bihar o ₹50 Cr allocated to help Biharis stuck in other states.
o Wheat to be procured through PACS from April 15.
o Public works under various schemes to resume soon.
o Portability of PDS enabled and people can avail ration anywhere across the
Chhattisgarh
state (including people from other states).
o Families of the healthcare professionals who die while treating COVID-19
Delhi
patients will get Rs 1 Crore Ex-gratia.
o Registered labourers given assistance of Rs. 6000 each and other labourers
given Rs. 4000 each.
o Food bus providing cooked food and essential groceries for the needy in
various parts of the state.
Goa o Goa State Food Helpline for homeless and needy operational between 7am to
11pm.
o Temporary 2-hour e-pass facility for easing movement of senior citizens,
women, differently abled and others for essential, medical emergency and
going to ATMs.
o Doubling the salary of doctors, nurses, paramedical and all other staff
working in COVID-19 hospitals
Haryana
o Set up a 24x7 toll-free helpline facility for procurement during rabi season for
the year 2020
15
Jammu & o Teleclasses and study material are made available for students online, and
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Kashmir being telecasted at DD Kashmir, Radio FM, Radio Mirchi, & local channels.o Postal services to be utilized to deliver services at the doorstep.
o An app has been launched to provide financial aid to migrant workers.
Jharkhand
o After May 3rd, to facilitate return of migrant workers, necessary measures to
be taken.
Karnataka o Property tax rebate till May announced.
o Funds released to provide food for animals including elephants.
Kerala
o Financial assistance will be given to artists.
o Shivbhojan at ₹5 till June and subsidized ration is extended to orange ration
Maharashtra
card holders
Mizoram o Education department to conduct home-schooling via TV channels.
o Directs all schools to release full salaries to staff.
Punjab o Set up a mandi board control room to coordinate harvesting & procurement
season in the state.
o Project SMILE launched to connect teachers & students online during
lockdown.
o Announced distribution of Rs.16000 crore of interest free crop loan to be in
FY 2020-21.
o Issued an order directing wholesalers to disclose godowns, warehouses and
inventory of goods.
o Door-to-door distribution of ration to select rural beneficiaries of Food
Security Scheme.
o Instructions to issue medicines under CM Free Medicine Scheme to senior
citizens and patients with chronic diseases.
o Ration to be provided to families displaced from Pakistan & living in
Rajasthan Rajasthan.
o NFSA beneficiaries will get free wheat twice a month in April and May.
o E-bazaar app launched by Government for grocery ordering in Jaipur.
o Announced that Postal Department resources will be used to deliver essential
goods from door to door.
o To provide 5 kg of free hybrid corn seeds to 5 lakh farmers in ST Areas. To
provide 1.5 kg of free hybrid Bajra seeds/farmer, to 10 lakh small & marginal
farmers (up to 0.4 Ha area) in main Bajra producing districts.
o Free tractor & farming equipment - in tie-up with farming equipment
manufacturers - on rent to economically weak small & marginal farmers.
o ‘Har Ghar Ek Roti’ scheme to collect food for destitute animals.
16
o Photography during distribution of food among needy banned.
Pageo Asha workers to get ₹5000 as honorarium
o Food and civil supplies department to compile a list of left out beneficiaries
Sikkim and distribute packages.
o ₹30,000 will be provided to patients who are stranded across the country.
o Additional incentive of ₹300 per day for Temi Tea Estate workers.
Uttar o Postmen to aid the administration in strengthening the system of home
Pradesh delivery of goods.
Medical and Health
Name of the
Type of Intervention
State/UT
o Launched Made in Andhra Pradesh COVID-19 rapid test kits, manufactured
AP Med Tech Zone. These kits provide results within 55 mins of testing.
o Adopted “Covid Alerting Tracking System” to keep track of over 25,000
Andhra
Pradesh individuals advised to self-quarantine. The app is developed by the State
Disaster Management Authority, who has also collected the database
associated with the mobile numbers of the people advised to stay under
quarantine.
o Door to door campaigns to screen prospective patients with in a radius of 3
Bihar
KM of existing patient.
o Extended the special health insurance coverage of 50 lakhs for those fighting
COVID19 at frontline to government and PSU employees, as well as
Assam
employees of private hospitals who have signed MoU with Assam
government.
o Rs. 50 insurance cover and 20% rise in salaries for all government staff
working closely with COVID facilities.
Goa o To set up walk-in sample collection kiosks, as per ICMR guidelines, in order
to increase the scope of testing more citizens.
Himachal o Notification of certain hospitals as secondary level dedicated isolation facility
Pradesh for confirmed COVID-19 cases.
o Regular immunization programs to restart
Kerala
17
o Funds to health department released to fight COVID-19
Page
Maharashtra o Taskforce to recommend patients in designated hotspots.o Guidelines on disposal of unclaimed dead bodies of COVID-19 patients.
o Clinical Establishment (Registration and Regulation) Ordinance 2020, to
bring the state's private hospitals under the umbrella of the COVID-19 battle.
Punjab
o Fixed rates for ambulances to be requisitioned from the private sector.
o Launched COVA Punjab app to inform people about the nearest COVID19
patient and containment zone.
o Announced Rs. 50 lakh aid to all categories of employees who lose their life
Rajasthan
to COVID19 while on duty.
Tamil Nadu o Launch of IVRS Helpline for guidance, detection, assistance on COVID19.
o Sample collection centres to be set up in all affected districts; target of 25
Uttar samples per day per district and 1 ventilator per 5 beds.
Pradesh o To keep migrants in quarantine, shelter homes may be set up in schools,
community centres, etc.; thermal scanning of residents to be done regularly.
o Dedicated Data Analysis Cell to collect real time data on COVID-19.
West Bengal o Introduces Global Advisory Board (GAB) headed by Nobel laureate Abhijit
Banerjee to formulate response policy with the state govt.
Preventive Measures
Name of the
Type of Intervention
State/UT
o Passed an order prohibiting the use and spitting of chewing smokeless
tobacco products in public places.
Andhra
o Planning to conduct a two-day door-to-door survey starting to identify the
Pradesh
persons who had recently been to novel coronavirus.
o To distribute 16 crore face masks free of cost as a preventive measure.
Bihar o Spitting and chewing or tobacco prohibited in public places.
Delhi o All people in Delhi should wear masks compulsorily in public places.
o Directorate of Health Services, Government of Goa will be conducting a
three-day state-wide community door-to-door survey from 13th April 202.
Survey shall be targeted to inquire about the health conditions of the
Goa
residents, their travel history including that of the neighbour’s.
18
o People coming outside their homes must mandatorily cover their face with
Page
mask, face cover, or any such cloth.Karnataka o Expert committee submitted a report on the exit strategy for lockdown.
Kerala o Anyone visiting public places must wear a mask mandatorily.
o Anyone visiting public places must wear a mask mandatorily.
Maharashtra
o Expert committee submitted a report on the exit strategy for lockdown.
o Guidelines to ensure participation of Headmen/Rangbah Shnong of various
ethnic groups in the fight against COVID19. They are to cooperate with the
administration in maintaining social distancing, provision of food, and travel
Meghalaya
histories of their localities/villages.
o Launch of official CMO YouTube page to disseminate COVID19
awareness.
Odisha o Lockdown extended till 30th of April
o Gram Panchayats empowered to spend Rs. 50,000 per month and Sarpanchs
authorized to issue a curfew pass in case of any emergency.
Punjab
o Punjab police deploys drones to intensify surveillance against curfew
violators.
o Public spitting made a punishable offence under Sec (2) of the Rajasthan
Epidemic Diseases Act, 1957.
Rajasthan o Special AIR bulletins in Rajasthani language during lockdown.
o WhatsApp helpline to report hoarding, overpricing, black marketing etc.
o Spitting is banned in public places.
o All porous borders across rivers are secured using wire fence to prevent cross
Sikkim
border migration
o Anyone visiting public places must wear a mask mandatorily.
Telangana o Lockdown extended till 30th of April
o Police use drones for surveillance.
o Health advisory to citizens to not consume tobacco to prevent spread of
Uttarakhand
COVID-19
Sikkim o Section 144 introduced.
o People coming outside their homes must mandatorily cover their face with
Uttar mask, face cover, or any such cloth.
Pradesh o Sugar mills to aid the administration in sanitising nearby areas wherever they
are located.
19
o People coming outside their homes have to mandatorily cover their face with
West Bengal
Page
mask, face cover, or any such cloth.Mental Health
Name of the
Type of Intervention
State/UT
o Assam Police in association with Dept. of Psychiatry & Clinical
Assam Psychologists Social Workers have launched tele-counselling helpline for
those in need of mental health care and support.
o Goa State AIDS Control Society (GSACS) counsellors to counsel
Goa quarantined patients in isolation facilities or homes. This service will be
extended using mobile phones & links for online appointments.
Uttar o Counselling facilities to be arranged for senior citizens, women, and mentally
Pradesh ill patients.
Common Measures:
▪ Arunachal Pradesh joined other states and announced 30% pay cut for all MLAs,
Ministers and the CM for a year.
▪ Disinfection tunnels are set up at public places like grocery markets through which
disinfectant is sprayed on the passers-by to prevent spread of Corona virus.
20
PagePOLICY UPDATES -1st APRIL to 5th APRIL 2020
21
PageCOVID-19 STATEWISE STATUS
Name of State / UT Total Cured/Discharged/ Deaths
Confirmed Migrated
cases
Andhra Pradesh 226 1 3
Andaman and Nicobar 10 0 0
Islands
Arunachal Pradesh 1 0 0
Assam 26 0 0
Bihar 30 0 1
Chandigarh 18 0 0
Chhattisgarh 9 3 0
Delhi 503 18 7
Goa 7 0 0
Gujarat 122 18 11
Haryana 84 25 1
Himachal Pradesh 13 1 1
Jammu and Kashmir 106 4 2
Jharkhand 3 0 0
Karnataka 151 12 4
Kerala 314 55 2
Ladakh 14 10 0
Madhya Pradesh 165 0 9
Maharashtra 690 42 45
Manipur 2 0 0
Mizoram 1 0 0
Odisha 21 2 0
Puducherry 5 1 0
Punjab 68 4 6
Rajasthan 253 21 0
Tamil Nadu 571 8 5
Telangana 321 34 7
Uttarakhand 26 4 0
Uttar Pradesh 227 19 2
West Bengal 80 10 3
Total number of 4067* 292 109
22
confirmed cases in
India
Page
Source: https://www.mohfw.gov.in/ accessed on 6th April, 2:46 PMTOTAL NUMBER OF GOVERNMENT ORDERS (UNION AND STATE GOVERNMENTS)
The following table numerically elaborates number of government orders issued in order to address the issues arising
due to COVID-19 Pandemic.
The column Citizen indicates welfare-centric advisories and orders pertaining to preventive measures, emergency
relief and assistance, and other communications. The column Government indicates advisories and orders meant for
government offices/establishments for governance of health emergency.
Union/State Citizen Government Total Union/State Citizen Government Total
Union Government 133 88 221 Lakshadweep 2 1 3
Andaman and
Nicobar Islands 15 36 51 Madhya Pradesh 13 22 35
Andhra Pradesh 39 41 80 Maharashtra 15 9 24
Arunachal Pradesh 18 5 23 Manipur 14 3 17
Assam 8 0 8 Meghalaya 60 19 79
Bihar 27 32 59 Mizoram 71 19 90
Chandigarh 11 27 38 Nagaland 56 21 77
Chhattisgarh 15 12 27 Odisha 37 54 91
Dadra and Nagar
Haveli and Daman Puducherry 2 1 3
and Diu 2 0 2
Delhi 19 22 41 Punjab 24 13 37
Goa 24 2 26 Rajasthan 30 15 45
Gujarat 18 7 25 Sikkim 28 7 35
Haryana 42 16 58 Tamil Nadu 36 13 49
Himachal Pradesh 46 46 92 Telangana 14 10 24
Jammu and Kashmir 2 11 13 Tripura 2 1 3
Jharkhand 6 9 15 Uttar Pradesh 13 11 23
Karnataka 33 23 56 Uttarakhand 35 7 42
Kerala 44 33 77 West Bengal 28 46 74
Ladakh 1 1 2
Total GOs issued by Union Government: 221
23
Total GOs collectively issued by all the States and UTs: 1454
PageUNION
GOVERNMENT
24
Page1 UNION GOVERNMENT
1. Preventive Measures
▪ 01.04.2020
o CBSE in consultation with NCERT issued an order that for classes 1 to 8: All
students studying in classes 1 to 8 are promoted to the next class/grade.
o There are several schools that have not been able to conduct exams for classes
9 and 11. All such schools have been advised to promote students of grades 9
and 11 to the next grades on the basis of all the school-based assessments
including project work, periodic tests, term exams, etc. conducted so far.
o For any child who is unable to clear this internal process, (in any number of
subjects), the school may utilise this period for providing remedial
interventions, and school may give the opportunity of appearing in school-
based test/s, online or offline. The promotion of such children may be decided
on the basis of such tests.
o For classes 10&12: The Board will conduct examinations for only main
subjects that will be required for promotion and may be crucial for admissions
in higher educational institutions. For the rest of the subjects, the Board will
not hold examinations.
o For located outside India, CBSE has decided not to hold any more exams for
the students of class 10 and 12 schools.
▪ 02.04.2020
o MHA releases compilation State-UT Helpline COVID-19.
o Following up on the Honourable Supreme Court’s observations, Union Home
Ministry has written to all States/UTs to take effective measures to fight Fake
News.
o The Government of India has created a web-portal for people to verify facts
and unverified news promptly. States/UTs have been requested to create a
similar mechanism at their level for issues relating to them.
▪ 03.04.2020
o Home Ministry approves release of ₹11,092 Cr under State Disaster Risk
Management Fund to all states.
2. Medical and Health
▪ 31.03.2020
o All the medical devices used to treat humans and animals are declared to be
drugs.
o MoHFW issued an advisory to citizens titled “how to mind our minds during
the COVID-19” which included aspects like understanding importance of
lockdown, handling social isolation, focus on facts, reject rumours and theories,
handling emotional problems, emotional issues after recovery and recognise
25
mental health problems in your near and dear ones.
o A health service provider toolkit has been developed and provided to
Page
designated hospitals and general health facilities aimed to assist the healthcarestaff in preventing the potential spread of the virus within the healthcare
facilities.
▪ 01.04.2020
o A trained counsellor and/or community group leader belonging to all faiths will
have to visit the relief camps/shelter homes and deal with any consternation
that the migrants might be going through. This shall be done in all the relief
camps/shelter homes wherever migrants are in the country.
o The anxiety and fear of the migrants should be understood by the police and
other authorities and they should deal with the migrants in a humane manner.
▪ 02.04.2020
o Launched new features of National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) Platform to
strengthen agriculture marketing by farmers which will reduce their need to
physically come to wholesale mandis for selling their harvested produce, at a
time when there is a critical need to decongest mandis to effectively fight
against COVID-19.
o An enhanced version of logistic module has been released whereby aggregators
of transport logistic platforms have on boarded which helps users to avail
tractable transport facilities for transporting their produce.
o MoHFW provides guidance to the state on the human resource that can be
mobilized for COVID-19 management along with possible role assignments
and their training (online) requirements.
o Released the National Preparedness Survey on COVID 19 – Responses of
District Collectors and IAS Officers (2014- 2018 batches) belonging to 410
districts of the country.
▪ 03.04.2020
o Ministry of AYUSH releases Ayurveda’s immunity boosting measures for self-
care during COVID 19 crisis.
3. Food Security
▪ 03.04.2020
o Centre asks states to decide what groceries they want to exempt from
lockdown.
4. Unorganised Sector/ Migrant Labour/ Low Income Families / Farmers/ Senior
Citizens
▪ 02.04.2020
o Disbursal of money under PMGKY for women in PMJDY accounts.
26
Page5. Mental Health - Civic Solidarity
▪ 05.04.2020
o All the citizens of India to switch off lights on 5th April 2020 and light a lamp,
torch or mobile phone light in their balconies, verandas and doors for 9 minutes
at 9:00 PM
6. Special Announcements
▪ All MP LAD funds for the next two years are allocated to COVID-19 relief.
▪ Prime Ministers, Union Ministers and MPs to take 30% pay-cuts for the next one
year.
27
PageRESERVE BANK
OF INDIA
28
Page2 RESERVE BANK OF INDIA
▪ April 1
o Extension of realisation period of export proceeds: In view of the disruption caused
by the COVID-19 pandemic, the time period for realization and repatriation of export
proceeds for exports made up to or on July 31, 2020, has been extended to 15 months
(used to be 9 months) from the date of export. The measure will enable the exporters to
realise their receipts, especially from COVID-19 affected countries within the extended
period and also provide greater flexibility to the exporters to negotiate future export
contracts with buyers abroad.
o Review of Limits of Way and Means Advances of States/UTs: Reserve Bank had
constituted an Advisory Committee under the chairmanship of Shri Sudhir Shrivastava
to review the Ways and Means limits for State Governments and Union Territories
(UTs). Pending submission of the final recommendations by the Committee, it has been
decided to increase WMA limit by 30 per cent from the existing limit for all States/UTs
to enable the State Governments to tide over the situation arising from the outbreak of
the COVID-19 pandemic. The revised limits will come into force with effect from April
1, 2020, and will be valid till September 30, 2020.
o Implementation of countercyclical capital buffer: The framework on the
countercyclical capital buffer (CCyB) was put in place by the Reserve Bank in terms of
guidelines issued on February 5, 2015, wherein it was advised that the CCyB would be
activated as and when the circumstances warranted and that the decision would normally
be preannounced. The framework envisages the credit-to-GDP gap as the main
indicator, which is used in conjunction with other supplementary indicators. Based on
the review and empirical analysis of CCyB indicators, it has been decided that it is not
necessary to activate CCyB for a period of one year or earlier, as may be necessary.
▪ April 3
o In the wake of outbreak of the novel corona virus (COVID-19) pandemic, it has been
decided in consultation with the Government of India, to permit receipt of foreign
inward remittances from non-residents through non-resident exchange houses in favour
of the ‘Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM-
CARES) Fund’, subject to the condition that AD Cat-I banks shall directly credit the
remittances to the Fund and maintain the full details of the remitters.
29
PageSTATES &
UTs
30
Page3 STATES & UTs
Welfare Measures
(food security, migrant/unorganised/low income families/farmers/ senior citizens)
Name of the
Type of Intervention
State/UT
Arunachal o Workers registered with Arunachal Pradesh Buildings and Workers Welfare
Pradesh Board to get ₹2000 per person per month for April 2020 and May 2020.
o To provide mid day meals to 40 lakh students in Guwahati at home during the
Assam
lockdown.
o No cut in salaries or pensions of government employees.
o Sellers and distributors of farm equipments are allowed to operate during
lockdown.
o Agricultural activities related to wheat harvest during lockdown to continue.
Bihar o Procurement period for paddy extended till 30th April.
o Setup and operate 10 centres in Delhi for daily wage workers from the
domicile, to provide food.
o People from the domicile stuck in other states to get ₹1000 from CMRF under
Mukhyamantri Vishesh Sahayata.
o 25% of petroleum products are reserved for official use for the prevention of
COVID-19 spread.
o Rice to be provided to all migrant workers in the state.
Chhattisgarh o All labour, skilled/unskilled workers in the state will be given wages for the
month of March.
o Mineral production and transportation to continue and are exempted from
lockdown.
o Introduced online mock test & online classes in Maths & Science for Class X
students of govt and govt-aided schools.
o In pursuance of PM Gareeb Kalyan Yojna, all eligible ration card holders will
be given additional quota of 5 kg per person for a period of 3 months (April-
June) free of cost.
Goa
o Information on movement schedule of SBI mobile ATM van.
o Food Security Allowance (consisting of i. quantity of the food grains as per
entitlement of the child ii. cooking cost prevailing in the state) to every
eligible child to be provided by Direct Benefit Transfer mode to the
parent/guardian of the child till such time the schools are closed.
31
Pageo ₹25 lakh compensation in case sanitation and health workers, revenue and
Gujarat food supplies staff, fair price shop owners died of the corona virus infection
while working in the frontline to combat the outbreak.
o Call centre opened in Jharkhand Bhavan to help those who are stuck in
Jharkhand Delhi.
o Nodal officer appointed to handle public grievances.
o Aerospace and defence manufacturing units are exempted from lockdown.
o Exams for classes 7,8,9 are cancelled and students are promoted to next
Karnataka year.
o SOP in case of the officers involved in COVID-19 test positive for COVID-
19.
o Toll-free helpline launched for migrant workers (guest workers).
Kerala
o A dedicated COVID-19 twitter handle launched to connect with citizens.
o Appointment of Nodal Officer for coordinating relief measures for the
migrant labour stranded in Meghalaya.
Meghalaya
o Announced financial assistance to adult daily wage earners (who are not
entitled under NREGA & other categories).
Mizoram o 338 prisoners released on parole to reduce crowding in jails.
o To engage the children and youth staying home during the lockdown,
UNICEF in collaboration with Government of Odisha is starting an online
Odisha competition 'Mo Prativa' while entries are being invited on 2 themes: 1)
Being at Home during the lockdown, 2) My responsibility as a young citizen
during COVID-19.
o Government announced special health insurance cover of ₹50 lakhs each for
the police personnel and sanitation workers.
Punjab
o To provide food grains of mid-day-meal to the students in sealed packets at
their homes.
o Deferment of electricity bills (industry, commercial, agricultural) for 2
months.
o 3 months amnesty towards outstanding electricity dues for residential &
agricultural connections that were cancelled prior to March 31.
Rajasthan o To provide 5 kg of free hybrid corn seeds to 5 lakh farmers in Scheduled
Tribe (ST) Areas.
o To provide 1.5 kg of free hybrid Bajra seeds per farmer, to 10 lakh small &
32
marginal farmers (up to 0.4 Ha area) in main Bajra producing districts.
Page
o Free tractor & farming equipment - in tie-up with farming equipmentmanufacturers - on rent to economically weak small & marginal farmers.
o 25% additional loans totalling ₹8000 crore to 20 lakh farmers towards
upcoming Kharif season.
o Deferment of water bills for 2 months for all consumer categories.
o Appointment of 2 senior officials as nodal officers to address concerns of
migrant labour in Rajasthan as well as of stranded Rajasthanis in other states.
o Providing essential commodities to transgenders who do not possess family
Tamil Nadu
card.
o Bonus for Health, Sanitation, and Police departments in the range of 10% to
Telangana
50%, ₹7500 for all GHMC & HMWSSB and ₹5000 for municipality workers.
o Cable TV connections not to be disconnected for non-payment of
West Bengal
subscription fee for the next one month.
Medical and Health
Name of the
Type of Intervention
State
o Government of Goa in association with Clinikk Healthcare launched a
Goa
Teleconsultation service for medical queries.
o The possibility of installing a TV in the relief camps should be considered
and it should further be ensured that social distancing in these camps is
maintained.
Haryana
o Doctors, nurses, paramedics and other staff working in private hospitals
in the state shall also be extended the benefit of enhanced ex gratia
compensation available for those working in the government sector.
o Industrial clusters to be setup to mass produce medical equipment like
Kerala
ventilators, masks etc.
o Proposals to set up district COVID hospitals under PPP arrangement
Odisha have been made. All healthcare workers are given a four-month salary in
advance.
o Acquisition of private healthcare facilities for managing COVID-19 cases.
West Bengal o Insurance Policy for police, healthcare workers and other personnel
33
working to contain COVID-19.
PagePreventive Measures
Name of the
Type of Intervention
State
Bihar o Aadhar seeding to enable ₹1000 to ration card holders
o 25% of petroleum products are reserved for official use for the prevention
of COVID-19 spread.
o Rice to be provided to all migrant workers in the state.
Chhattisgarh o All labour, skilled/unskilled workers in the state will be given wages for the
month of March.
o Mineral production and transportation to continue and are exempted from
lockdown.
o Launched contact numbers for the public to report instances of hoarding,
Goa
overpricing, black marketing, etc.
o The date for repayment of crop loans by farmers has been extended from
Haryana
April 15 to June 30, 2020.
o Corona watch mobile application launched which has all spots visited by
Karnataka
confirmed COVID-19 patients in the past 14 days before testing.
o All persons who exhibit even one or two symptoms also to be tested
Kerala
o Testing kiosks deployed to test for COVID-19 cases.
o Punjab police deploys drones to intensify surveillance against curfew
violators.
o All telecom service providers, social media networks ordered to
Punjab
mandatorily push notifications to their customers to download COVA app.
o Food department decided to intensify the ongoing state-wise raids to check
over pricing.
Special Announcements
Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh have announced salary cuts to all state
government employees ranging from 10% to 75%.
34
PagePOLICY UPDATES TILL 31st March 2020
35
PageCOVID-19 STATEWISE STATUS
Name of State / UT Total Cured/Discharged/ Death
Confirmed
cases Migrated
Andhra Pradesh 40 1 0
Andaman and Nicobar 10 0 0
Islands
Bihar 15 0 1
Chandigarh 13 0 0
Chhattisgarh 8 0 0
Delhi 97 6 2
Goa 5 0 0
Gujarat 73 3 6
Haryana 40 21 0
Himachal Pradesh 3 0 1
Jammu and Kashmir 54 2 2
Karnataka 83 5 3
Kerala 234 19 1
Ladakh 13 3 0
Madhya Pradesh 47 0 3
Maharashtra 216 39 9
Manipur 1 0 0
Mizoram 1 0 0
Odisha 3 0 0
Puducherry 1 0 0
Punjab 41 1 3
Rajasthan 74 3 0
Tamil Nadu 74 4 1
Telangana 79 1 1
Uttarakhand 7 2 0
Uttar Pradesh 101 14 0
West Bengal 26 0 2
Total number of 1397# 124 35
confirmed cases in
India
Source: https://www.mohfw.gov.in/ accessed on 1st April, 12:46 PM
36
PageTOTAL NUMBER OF GOVERNMENT ORDERS (UNION AND STATE GOVERNMENTS)
The following table numerically elaborates number of government orders issued in order to address the
issues arising due to COVID-19 Pandemic.
The column Citizen indicates welfare-centric advisories and orders pertaining to preventive measures,
emergency relief and assistance, and other communications. The column Government indicates advisories
and orders meant for government offices/establishments for governance of health emergency.
Union/State Citizen Government Total Union/State Citizen Government Total
Union
Government 83 45 128 Lakshadweep 2 1 3
Andaman and Madhya
Nicobar Islands 11 32 43 Pradesh 13 22 35
Andhra Pradesh 9 3 12 Maharashtra 4 7 11
Arunachal Pradesh 11 2 13 Manipur 1 2 3
Assam 8 0 8 Meghalaya 13 3 16
Bihar 11 2 13 Mizoram 2 6 8
Chandigarh 9 25 34 Nagaland 19 8 27
Chhattisgarh 2 2 4 Odisha 7 13 20
Dadra and Nagar
Haveli and Daman Puducherry 2 1 3
and Diu 2 0 2
Delhi 17 21 38 Punjab 12 3 15
Goa 3 0 3 Rajasthan 8 8 16
Gujarat 17 6 23 Sikkim 1 2 3
Haryana 21 7 28 Tamil Nadu 10 7 17
Himachal Pradesh 30 39 69 Telangana 12 0 12
Jammu and
Tripura 2 1 3
Kashmir 2 11 13
Jharkhand 4 7 11 Uttar Pradesh 2 8 10
Karnataka 20 12 32 Uttarakhand 19 2 21
Kerala 12 17 29 West Bengal 11 33 44
Ladakh 1 1 2
The list comprises of major notifications that are available in public domain.
Total GOs issued by Union Government: 128
37
Total GOs collectively issued by all the States and UTs: 644
PageUNION
GOVERNMENT
38
Page1 UNION GOVERNMENT
At the backdrop of COVID-19outbreak, the Government of India has undertaken the following
policy measures/interventions.
1. Preventive Measures
❖ Travel Advisories
▪ 25.01.2020: All non-essential travel to China to be avoided.
▪ 05.02.2020: Indian travellers are advised to refrain from travelling to China.
▪ 26.02.2020: Indian citizens advised to refrain from non-essential travel to
the following countries: Singapore, South Korea, Iran, Italy.
▪ 02.03.2020: Indian citizens are advised to refrain from travel to COVID-19
affected Countries (China, South Korea, Iran, Italy and Japan).
▪ 10.03.2020: Indians are advised to avoid non- essential travel abroad.
▪ Strongly advised to refrain from travelling to China, Italy, Iran, South
Korea, Japan, France, Spain and Germany.
▪ 11.03.2020: Only those international cruise ships which had planned and
intimated their call to an Indian Port not later than 1stJanuary 2020 will be
allowed to call on such port.
▪ Any international cruise ship or any member of its crew or any passenger
therein having a travel history of visiting any of the COVID-19 affected
countries are not permitted to enter any Indian port till 31stMarch 2020.
▪ 14.03.2020: All types of passenger movements through Immigration Land
Check Posts across all international borders of India banned.
▪ 16.03.2020: Travel of passengers from member countries of the European
Union, the European Free Trade Association, Turkey and the United
Kingdom to India is prohibited with effect from 18thMarch 2020.
▪ 17.03.2020: Travel of passengers from Afghanistan, Philippines, and
Malaysia to India is prohibited with immediate effect.
❖ Screening of international passengers at Airports
▪ 06.03.2020: All international Passengers entering India are required to
furnish duly filled self-declaration form and undergo Universal Health
Screening at the designated health counters at all Points of Entry.
▪ Passengers travelling from /having visited Italy or South Korea and desirous
of entering India will need a certificate of having tested negative for
COVID-19 from the designated laboratories authorized by the health
authorities of these countries.
39
▪ 11.03.2020: International traffic through land borders will be restricted to
Page
designated check posts with robust screening facilities.▪ International cruise ships will be allowed only on the ports having thermal
screening facilities for passengers and crew.
❖ Visas:
▪ 05.02.2020: Existing visas (including e-Visa already issued) are no longer
valid for any foreign national travelling from China.
▪ 06.03.2020: All regular (sticker) Visas/e-Visa (including VoA for Japan and
South Korea) granted to nationals of Italy, Iran, South Korea, Japan and
issued on or before 03.03.2020 and who have not yet entered India stand
suspended.
▪ Regular (sticker) visas/e-Visas granted to all foreign nationals who have
travelled to China, Iran, Italy, South Korea and Japan on or after 01.02.2020,
and who have not yet entered India stand suspended.
▪ 11.03.2020: All existing visas (except diplomatic, official, UN/International
Organizations, employment, project visas) stand suspended till 15th April
2020.
▪ Visa free travel facility granted to OCI card holders is kept in abeyance till
15th April 2020.
❖ Quarantine:
▪ 05.02.2020: People travelling to China henceforth will be quarantined on
return.
▪ 26.02.2020: People coming from South Korea, Iran and Italy or those
having history of travel to these countries may be quarantined for 14 days
on arrival in India.
▪ 02.03.2020: People coming from China, South Korea, Iran, Italy and Japan
will be quarantined.
▪ 16.03.2020: Compulsory quarantine for a minimum period of 14 days for
passengers coming from/transiting through UAE, Qatar, Oman, and Kuwait
has been mandated.
❖ Transport cancellations:
▪ 19.03.2020: No scheduled international commercial passenger aircraft shall
take off from any foreign airport for any airport in India, after 00:00 hrs
GMT of March 22, 2020.
▪ A maximum travel time of 20 hours is permissible for such commercial
passenger aircraft to land in India.
▪ No incoming scheduled international commercial passenger aircraft shall
40
be allowed to disembark its passengers on Indian soil.
Page
▪ 23.03.2020: Ban on domestic flights except cargo flights.▪ All Passenger trains suspended, and railway station entry/exits shut off. RPF
was asked to check no passenger travels by goods train.
❖ Evacuations: Indian and foreign nationals stuck in virus affected countries like
China, Japan, Iran and Italy were airlifted to India.
❖ Sealing of International Borders
▪ 14.03.2020: All types of passenger movements through all the Immigration
Land Check-posts located at India-Bangladesh border, India-Nepal border,
India-Bhutan border, India-Myanmar border and India- Pakistan border
suspended.
❖ Lockdown:
▪ 22.03.2020: Janata Curfew Announced.
▪ 23.03.2020: 75 districts of India where cases were reported are locked
down.
▪ 24.03.2020: Whole of India is brought under a complete lock down, wef.
Midnight of 24th March till 14th April 2020.
▪ 30.03.2020: Vehicles supplying essential goods whose documents are
expired since 1stFebruary 2020 or to be expired by 30th June 2020, the same
will be treated valid till 30th June 2020.
2. Medical and Health
▪ 25.01.2020
o The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), GoI said that it is closely
monitoring the outbreak of respiratory illness caused by a novel (new) Corona
virus (termed “2019-nCoV”).
o Establish a system for screening of travellers from ‘2019-nCoV’affected country
(China) at all Points of Entry.
o Establish In-country/ community surveillance through the Integrated Disease
Surveillance Programme network (IDSP).
▪ 08.03.2020
o All ministries directed to step up their efforts and fully utilise their resources in
support of MoHFW in its efforts of preparedness, control and containment
measures.
▪ 11.03.2020
o Powers given to MoHFW under NDMA to enhance preparedness for fighting
COVID-19.
41
o Items added in the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, in the Schedule, after serial
No. (7), namely: (8) masks (2ply & 3ply surgical masks, N95 masks) & hand
Page
sanitizers.o 17.03.2020
o Micro-plan for Containing Local Outbreak of COVID-19:
• Mapping the affected areas.
• The containment zone will be decided by the Rapid Response Team based
on the extent of cases/contacts listed and mapped by them.
• Every confirmed case must be considered as an epicentre and micro-plan
activities to be done. ASHA/ ANM/ Anganwadi worker to do field visits to
check for any suspect cases and for information dissemination.
• District administration to closely monitor surveillance. A system from
tracking to testing to treatment of a positive patient has been prescribed.
▪ 18.03.2020
o All state and UT Drug Controllers advised to process the manufacturing
applications for sanitizers and masks within 3working days for grant of
manufacturing license.
▪ 19.03.2020
o Quota restrictions on Ethyl Alcohol/ Extra Neutral Alcohol removed. Ethyl
Alcohol, ENA is made available at a reasonable price for sanitizer manufacturers.
▪ 20.03.2020
o SAARC meeting convened and ₹74 Crore allocated to the COVID-19emergency
fund.
▪ 24.03.2020
o Emergency financial package of ₹15,000 crore for healthcare towards strengthening
of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) for medical professionals, increasing
isolation wards and ICU beds, and for the training of medical and paramedical
manpower.
o All Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (where students are not residing) set up temporary
medical facilities / quarantine camps for isolation.
o States asked to waive 300% excise duty levied on ethanol used to make sanitizers.
o Supply of sanitizer in bulk to State and Central Government hospitals at low rates
may be negotiated with the distilleries.
o States asked to ensure that the bottling plants for manufacturing sanitizers can
function unhindered and all new permissions to be expeditiously granted.
o States may be pursued to waive inspection requirements and other formalities for
starting production of sanitizers and other equipment.
▪ 25.03.2020
42
o Publication of telemedicine practice guidelines.
o Enabling Registered Medical Practitioners to provide healthcare using
Pagetelemedicine.
▪ 26.03.2020
o Any health professional, who while treating COVID-19patients, meets with some
accident, then he/she would be compensated with an amount of ₹50 lakh under the
scheme.
o State Governments were asked to utilize the funds available under District Mineral
Fund (DMF) for supplementing and augmenting facilities of medical testing,
screening and other requirements in connection with preventing the spread of
COVID-19pandemic as well as treating the patients affected with this pandemic.
o Advisory sent to the state governments to act about lapse in the number of the
international travellers to be monitored and the numbers monitored.
o Hydroxychloroquine is declared Schedule H1 drug. Retail sales of drugs containing
Hydroxychloroquine is to be made as per established procedure.
o Regulation by MoHFW for the sale and distribution of drugs for their delivery to
the consumers and stipulated conditions need to be maintained by the sellers given
the importance of door to door delivery of drugs and medicine.
o Due to scarcity of coveralls, and risk versus benefit, that as an emergency temporary
measure in larger public interest, in present given circumstances, the fabric that
cleared/passed ‘Synthetic Blood Penetration Resistance Test’(ISO 16603) and the
garment that passed ‘Resistance to penetration by biologically contaminated solid
particles (ISO 22612:2005) may be considered as the benchmark specification to
manufacture Coveralls.”
▪ 28.03.2020
o Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM-
CARES) established.
o Certain number of railway coaches converted into isolation facilities.
▪ 29.03.2020
o 10 empowered groups and a strategic task force comprising senior civil servants to
deal with the COVID-19outbreak and its aftermath formed.
3. Food Security
▪ 25.03.2020
o Control room established in Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal
Trade to monitor issues of internal trade, manufacturing and delivery & logistics
of essential commodities during the lockdown period. Manufacturers, distributors,
43
transporters, e-commerce companies facing ground level difficulties can
Page
complain.▪ 26.03.2020
o Food supplies to 80 crore individuals who would be provided double of their
current entitlement (food grains) over the next three months. These additional food
grains are free of cost. Additionally, 1 Kg Pulses will be provided (as per the
regional preferences) for the next three months.
▪ 29.03.2020
o State/ UT Governments shall ensure adequate arrangements of temporary shelters,
and food for the poor and needy including migrant labourers.
o Migrant people who went to their hometowns to be placed in quarantine for 14 days
after proper screening.
o All employers of industry, shops and establishments shall make payments to the
workers at their workplace, on the due date without deduction.
o Landlords should not collect rent from the workers including migrants who are
staying in rented accommodation for one month.
4. Unorganised Sector/ Migrant Labour/ Low Income Families / Farmers/ Senior Citizens
▪ 26.03.2020
o PM KISAN Yojana: The first instalment of ₹2,000 due in 2020-21 will be front-
loaded and paid in April 2020, benefitting 8.7 crores famers.
o PMJDY women accountholders would be given ex-gratia of ₹500 per month for
the next three months benefitting 20.40 crore women.
o Gas cylinders, free of cost, would be provided for the next three months to 8 crore
poor families.
o Wage-earners below ₹15,000 per month in businesses having less than 100
workers, the government proposes to pay 24 per cent of their monthly wages into
their PF accounts for the next three months.
o Senior citizens, widows and persons with disabilities (Divyang) will be provided
with ₹1,000.
o MNREGA wages would be increased by ₹20 with effect from 1 April 2020.
o Limit of collateral-free lending would be increased from ₹10 to ₹20 lakhs
benefiting 63 lakhs Self Help Groups (SHGs).
o Employees Provident Fund Regulations will be amended to include Pandemic as
the reason to allow the non-refundable advance of 75 percent of the amount or
three months of the wages, whichever is lower, from their accounts. The
beneficiary are Families of four crore workers registered under EPF.
44
o A welfare fund for building and other construction workers is created under a
Central Government Act. State Governments will be given directions to utilise
Page
this fund to aid and support to these workers to protect them against economicYou can also read
