ANANTNAG: At the behest of District Development Commissioner, Dr Piyush Singla a special meeting was organized by District Administration in which members of the District Development Council Anantnag and senior District Officers participated to chalk out an effective mitigation strategy for COVID-19 in the district.
The meet was attended by Chairman DDC Council, MY Gorsi, Vice Chairperson, ADDC, CMO, all members of the District Development Council, ACD and ACP, BDCs among others.
At the outset, DDC Chairman MY Gorsi said that the COVID threat is looming large globally and there has been an upsurge in cases in the district recently. He said that while institutional readiness and capacity building is adequately catered to, the PRI members have an important role to play by spreading awareness and disseminating information at the ground level through the three tier panchayati raj system.
He said the PRIs can also provide feedback on ground level preparedness so that any additional measures can be taken to fill in the gaps.
The ADDC said that the main purpose of organizing the joint deliberation is to delve deeply into the issue at hand and come up with an effective mitigation strategy. He said that the PRIs are the representatives of the people and have an important input in designing an effective awareness campaign so that people are aware of the precautions they must take. He said they also are instrumental to ensure mass participation in the ongoing vaccination process.
CMO Anantnag briefed the attendees about the availability of sufficient infrastructure in the district to tackle the upsurge in cases. He said that sufficient oxygen supported beds are available in the district. Oxygen plants and Oxygen cylinders have also been kept on the ready in various sub divisional facilities to meet the oxygen demand in case of hospitalization, he added.
He said, a contingency plan to deal with any further upsurge has been chalked out. He said that most of the cases in the present wave are mild but it is important that people take precautions, use masks at all times and ensure social distancing.
He said that people should get vaccinated, particularly the elderly should get a booster dose. He said that the PRIs must emphasize among the public that use of masks and social distancing must be adhered to.
The DDC members said that they will convey the message among the people. They said that since social media has a wide reach, a social media campaign will be initiated to motivate people.

KR Desk