Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, while reviewing the work of empowered groups on COVID-19 asked Non Governmental Organisations and volunteer groups including ex-servicemen be tapped to carry out non-specialised tasks to lessen the burden on medical care professionals.
A statement released after the meeting by the government said, “PM asked the officials to explore how volunteers from civil society can be utilised to lessen the pressure on healthcare sector by invoking them in non-specialised tasks. It was discussed that NGOs could help to establish and maintain lines of communication between the patients, their dependents & health care personnel. Ex Servicemen could be encouraged to handle call centres for communicating with people under home quarantine.”
NGOs and civil society groups have been asking for some relief in terms of releasing cumbersome compliance requirements on donations especially from abroad, while the government has, till now, kept a hard stance on the issue.
The meeting also went into supply issues with regard to medical resources, with Prime Minister Modi emphasising that there should be a seamless movement of supplies across geographies.
Relief measures to the poor, with the announcement that free rations of upto 5 kilos of food grains to 80 crore beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Yojana was also reviewed at the meeting.
