New Cabinet clears Rs 23,123 cr package to fight Covid

The Centre government on Thursday approved a Rs 23,000 crore relief package for combating Covid-19 and dealing with issues which occurred during the second wave.Addressing the media after the first Cabinet meeting following the reshuffle, newly appointed health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said Rs 8,000 crore will be provided to the states out of the Rs 23,000 crore package."Rs 23,000 crore package will be given to deal with the problems that occurred in the second wave of Covid-19. It will be used jointly by the central and state governments to boost emergency health infrastructure," Mandaviya said.

Amid fears of an impending third wave, the minister informed that pediatric care centres will be formed in 736 districts and 20,000 ICU beds will be created under the Covid relief fund. "Can we not use telemedicine? Can we not teleconsultation? All these have been incorporated into this new package. State governments can also use this fund to pool in nursing students to bolster the health infrastructure," the new minister said. The package will be implemented within nine months, from July to March, next year, Mandaviya said. "The maximum deadline is of 9 months. We can do this even before the deadline according to the situation," the health minister said.