Since the COVID-19 lockdown was announced 45 days ago, Tamil Nadu has formed 15 committees comprising senior civil servants, IPS officers and other experts to handle multiple issues arising out of the pandemic. The strategy has largely paid off. Civil servants, who are multitasking, have also used this as an opportunity to innovate, launching delivery apps and utility portals.
Almost all the committees are meeting daily or at regular intervals, both physically and virtually. “We are all part of different WhatsApp groups, apart from each panel having its own. These groups have become a major platform of official discussions,” said an officer and a panelist in charge of the movement of essentials.
Only the special investment promotion task force is yet to hold its first meeting, as some members are based outside Chennai. “We have done preliminary work. The meeting may take place in a week,” said a member.
An official attached to the committee on essential manufacturing said that the panel’s job was, among other things, to ascertain the requirements of the Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation; identify producers or manufacturers, and tie them up with the TNMSC. In addition to ventilators, the panel had helped procure N-95 masks from BYD, a Chinese company.
The committee has got nearly 250 firms registering with it through a portal. “We are providing information regarding these companies not only to the TNMSC but also to NGOs,” said the official.
The health infrastructure panel has identified sites in Tamil Nadu to accommodate five lakh beds. It is also making quarantine arrangements for those who are going to return from abroad.
An official in charge of the panel for senior citizens said that nearly 42,000 elderly persons were living in Chennai. “We got their data through the Greater Chennai Corporation. They are being provided tele-counselling. We ensure that all their requirements are met,” said the official. Besides, around 1.09 lakh shelterless and abandoned persons are being fed through community kitchens, every day.
A member of the committee on overall coordination said that as each committee had a specified activity, the government was able to get “detailed inputs” from them, which in turn were beneficial at the time of decision making.
Assigning officers
Pointing out that all committees were “working well”, K. Shanmugam, Chief Secretary, explained that the selection of member-officers for various committees was done keeping in mind the “functional responsibility of the officers”.
For instance, Principal Secretary (Industries) N. Muruganandam is looking after essential manufacturing; Principal Secretary (Agriculture) Gagandeep Singh Bedi and Additional Chief Secretary (Food) Dayanand Kataria are in charge of the movement of essentials and Principal Secretaries (Public Works and Housing) K. Manivasan and Rajesh Lakhoni are in charge of health infrastructure. Principal Secretaries (Animal Husbandry and BC, MBC and Minorities Welfare) K. Gopal and B. Chandra Mohan, both being doctors, are taking care of epidemic monitoring, the Chief Secretary added.
