Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that every effort is being made to prevent Corona infection in the state and arrangements for free and best treatment have been made for the Corona patients. With this, we have gained considerable control over Corona, and we will soon defeat the corona completely. A large part of the state budget has been spent in this work and the amount will be needed in future also. We all have a responsibility to curtail the unnecessary expenses of the government and provide whatever help we can offer personally. “I have decided from the date of assuming the office of the Chief Minister till September 30, I will deposit 30 percent of my salary and allowances in the Chief Minister Relief Fund for Corona relief work. So far, an amount of Rs one lakh 40 thousand has been deposited by me in the first 3 months. My Cabinet colleagues can also do the same. We now have to defeat Corona completely with the active support of the public. For this, a campaign “Sankalp ki chain jodo, Sankraman ki chain todo” will be launched from August 1.

Chief Minister Chouhan said that MLAs should utilize their MLA funds for Corona control related works such as providing essential equipments for medical staff, purchasing face masks, thermometers, PPE kits, testing kits, ventilators, sanitizers etc. in their areas. With this, one-third of the amount of about Rs 500 crores generated in the District Mineral Fund in 22 districts of the state can be spent in the same districts for Corona related works and employment-oriented works for the poor. This fund will be sanctioned with the approval of the minister in charge of the district concerned. Charges of districts will be allocated to ministers by next week.

Chief Minister Chouhan said that we have to take the Corona crisis as a challenge and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of Atmanirbhar Bharat should be first realised in Madhya Pradesh. For this, all our departments have started preparing roadmaps at a rapid pace. On August 15, the road map of Atmanirbhar Madhya Pradesh will be presented to the people of the state.

Four major areas of the roadmap

Chief Minister Chouhan said that the four main areas of the roadmap of Atmanirbhar Madhya Pradesh will be health and education, economy and employment, development of physical infrastructure and good governance. This roadmap is being prepared for the next 3 years in collaboration with NITI Aayog of the Government of India. Teams are working continuously under the leadership of four senior officers of Additional Chief Secretary level to prepare it.

Webinars for suggestions from experts

Chief Minister Chouhan said that webinars will be organized from on August 7, 8, 10 and 11 from 11 am to 2 pm and 3 pm to 6 pm to include suggestions received from subject experts in the road map. These webinars will be attended by subject experts as well as public representatives, academicians and district level officials. Representatives of NITI Aayog of the Government of India will also join them.

Corona has to be defeated with total caution and care without lock down

Chief Minister Chouhan said that it is the result of your efforts and the cooperation of the public that today our Corona recovery rate is 70 percent and the death rate has come down to 2.7 percent. But still infection is increasing in many places of the state. The economy is being severely affected due to the lockdown. Now we have to defeat Corona with complete caution and care without lockdown.

Public will follow our footsteps

Chief Minister Chouhan told the ministers that the public will behave just as we -the public representatives behave. Therefore, it is our responsibility to use all the protective measures ourselves in the fight against Corona. Everyone must wear mask, maintain physical distance, use sanitizer, undertake no public tours or programmes and do not meet more than 5 people at a time at home. If they already have fixed any further programme, they should be converted to virtual meetings.

Penalty will be imposed and case will be registered for breaking rules

Chief Minister Chouhan clearly said that it is mandatory to wear mask and maintain physical distancing to prevent Corona infection. Any person, be it Chief Minister, Minister, Public Representative, Officer or any other, in case of violation of rules, fine will be imposed and case will also be registered.

All Ministers and Ministers of State of Madhya Pradesh connected online from different places and also interacted with Chief Minister Chouhan through video conferencing.