Rajasthan coronavirus tally inches towards 10,000-mark with 68 fresh cases as of June 5

• The number of cases in Rajasthan now stands at 9,930 and fatalities at 213.
  
• Jaipur reported 16 cases, 4 were from Baran, two from Kota, two people from other states and one from Sawaimadhopur also tested positive.

Rajasthan reported 68 fresh cases of COVID-19 on Friday, taking the total number of positive cases in the state to 9,930, an official said. While 23 cases were reported from Jhalawar, 20 people tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Bharatpur.

Jaipur reported 16 cases, 4 were from Baran, two from Kota, two people from other states and one from Sawaimadhopur also tested positive, the official said.

So far, 213 COVID-19 patients have died in the state including 101 in Jaipur alone.

A total of 7,162 patients have recovered so far and 6,551 of them have been discharged. There are 2,555 active cases in the state as of now.

More than 13 lakh migrants have returned to Rajasthan through Shramik special trains and buses, while over six lakh have gone to their home states from the desert state, a senior official said. With this, the movement of migrants is almost over in the state, Additional Chief Secretary, Industries, Subodh Agarwal, said.

"A total of 13.43 lakh migrants who were stuck in various states have arrived in Rajasthan from different states in buses and Shramik special trains and 6.13 lakh have reached their states from Rajasthan so far," he said.

The last Shramik special train departed from the state on June 1.

"We conducted a smooth movement and ensured relief to migrants. The movement of migrants is almost over now. However, we still have 100 camps ready in various parts of the state to accommodate migrants," he said.

The officer, who is looking after movement of migrants, said the registration for arrival and departure was much higher in initial days of lockdown relaxation but many migrants in the later stage also cancelled their movement and stayed back.

Migrants have returned to districts like Dungapur, Pali, Sirohi, Jalore, Nagaur, Bikaner and Barmer among others.

The maximum number of arrivals has been from Maharashtra, where Rajasthani migrants were running small businesses, while in Gujarat the migrants were working as labourers. Similarly, migrants from West Bengal and southern states like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh have also arrived.

The officer said the crisis of migrants was tackled in a systematic manner.

"Shelter, food, medicines, safe screening, transport facilities were arranged in a systematic manner which helped us in smooth movement. The transportation cost was borne by the state government. Apart from buses, other vehicles, even personal vehicles in some cases, were provided to those walking on foot," he said.

District administration officials kept a check on roads and migrants walking home were provided transport, the official said.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday directed officials to conduct the exams of universities, postponed due to the COVID-19 lockdown, in July. Chairing a review meeting of the higher education department, the chief minister asked the officials to start examinations of final year of UG and PG courses from second week of July, a statement said.

It was decided in the meeting that first and second year students will be promoted to next year on provisional basis and their exams will also be conducted later on, according to the statement.

Same pattern will be followed for B Tech, MBA and polytechnic courses He said that health protocols, social distancing should be followed properly in view of coronavirus during exams and other activities, it said.

Higher Education Minister Bhanwar Singh Bhati, Technical Education Minister Subhash Garg, Chief Secretary DB Gupta and other senior officials were also present in the meeting. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot insisted that the Centre should double the number of days of employment under the rural job guarantee scheme, saying the UPA-era law MGNREGA has proved its worth in providing livelihood to the poor.

The Centre should increase the limit of days for providing employment to the rural poor from the present 100 days to 200 under Mahatama Gnadhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, said Gehlot.

He made the remark while interacting with sarpanches, gram sevaks, patwaris and other gram panchayat functionaries through a video conference on the issue of corona pandemic.

The significance of MGNREGA, introduced by the previous UPA government, has been proved during the corona pandemic. At a time when people lost their jobs, MGNREGA gave them work, he said, adding millions of people got job opportunities under MGNREGA in the country.

Gehlot also said Rajasthan has been successful in tackling the corona crisis because of the cooperation of common people in following the government's advisories.

He said a good work has been done in rural areas of the state where large number of migrants returned from other states and adequate arrangements of quarantine facilities were made.

Now it is our endeavour to bring economic activities back on track so that normalcy could be restored while protecting lives, he said.

The chief minister said villagers and public representatives gave their cooperation and support in taking care of migrants who returned to rural areas of the state.

Gram panchayat functionaries also worked like a team to handle the situation in rural areas, he said.

Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot said Rajasthan is the leading state in providing job opportunities under the MGNREGA.

MNREGA scheme is proving to be a boon for the workers who returned to Rajasthan due to lack of employment in other states, besides for those deprived of employment at the local level, he said.

He said 42.80 lakh workers have been provided job opportunities in the state this year.

He said where almost all other employment opportunities were shut during the lockdown, the MNREGA scheme has proved to be a lifeline for the poor and backward people in rural areas.

Job cards of 1.77 lakh migrant labourers returned from various states have also been issued to provide employment under the MNREGA scheme, he said.

Pilot also said that in view of the scorching summer, the central government should reduce the working time under MNREGA.

During the video meet, sarpanches and other functionaries apprised the chief minister of arrangements in their area for handling corona pandemic, distribution of food to the needy and quarantine arrangements.

The officials too apprised Gehlot of various activities carried out in quarantine centers, including yoga, plantation etc.

The issues of locust invasion and water scarcity too were discussed in the video meet.

In the meeting, the officials informed the CM that 96,000 hectare of area in 20 districts of the state are affected with the menace of locust and the situation was controlled in 73,000 hectare.

In present, there are some swarms of locusts in Ganganagar, Hanumangarh, Dausa, Bikaner, Barmer and Jodhpur and locust control activities were being carried out through resources like sprayer machines, fire brigades etc.

PHED Minister B D Kalla, Agriculture Minister Lalchand Kataria, Health Minister Raghu Sharma, Chief Secretary D B Gupta and other senior officials were also present in the meeting.

Free supply of food under NFSA

A core group has been formed to make daily decisions, which shall visit the deprived and poor section of the society to check on their needs during the lockdown period. Families connected with the National Food Security Act (NFSA) shall get free wheat for two months.

The street vendors and daily workers, who are out of the NFSA list, shall get food packets free of cost for two months from April 1.

The CM also appealed to all factory workers to ensure that they are being paid their salaries during the lockdown period. Also, they should not be terminated from their jobs during this period.

Private vehicles banned in Rajasthan

CM Gehlot on Tuesday (March 24) announced a ban on all private vehicles in the State.

“To save lives from #coronavirus infection, we have taken the decision to ban all private vehicles on roads from tomorrow. Only vehicles related to essential services and those in exempted services would be allowed. State highway tolls will also be closed from 12 o’clock midnight,” he tweeted.

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