IMCT submits its feedback to the Centre, its observations of its visit to Gujarat

Gandhinagar: The Inter Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) submitted its feedback report to the Central Government about its observations on actions taken by the Gujarat Government to combat and contain the novel coronavirus COVID-19.

The team during its visit to Gujarat took stock of the actions taken by the state government’s health, home and other departments under the leadership of Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and by local self governments in Ahmedabad and Surat municipal corporation areas to review and evaluate the steps taken to ensure people followed lockdown protocols like social distancing.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Union Home Ministry’s Joint Secretary Ms Punya Salila Shrivastava said the team found the situation satisfactory.

The team noted in its feedback the spontaneous and well-planned actions jointly taken with the civic bodies, industrial units and voluntary organisations like providing ration and food packets to migrant workers and the needy. It took note of village warriors committees providing daily essentials at doorsteps.

It noted the war rooms in the municipal corporations monitoring the medical teams carrying out surveillance, door to door surveying and testing, keeping track of suspected and positive cases through GIS mapping and analyzing the data for actions.

It took note of Gujarat government liberally using CCTV cameras, drones and other technical tools to ensure people observed social distancing. It took note of intensive checking by police and medical teams at the entry point to the cities.

The team during its visit to hospitals and other places expressed satisfaction at the administration’s alertness and success in detection of patients owing to large scale testing from the very beginning.

In Surat, it noted that most of the textiles and diamond units have paid the salary of March to their workers.

In Ahmedabad, the team visited Civil Hospital, Shelter Home, Blood Donation Camps organized jointly with Red Cross.

The team members talked with the kin of the patients under treatment at hospitals and expressed satisfaction at the facilities there. They also talked with the municipal corporation officers to chalk out the strategy for coming days.