SHILLONG, APR 3: The North Eastern Council (NEC) has sanctioned Rs 3 crore for Meghalaya to effecitively fight against the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The decision was taken after a review meeting chaired by the Union Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Dr Jitendra Singh with officials of the ministry and NEC via video conferencing recently.
The meeting has also decided that the DoNER/NEC will provide financial support up to the tune of Rs 25 crore to the North eastern states for fighting against the COVID-19 outbreak.
The union minister shared that concerted efforts is already happening and all efforts will be made to ensure that the North East States are supported in this hour of need, particularly related to medical needs and essential commodities.
In view of this decision, the NEC has released Rs 3 crore, being the normative share, to the government of Meghalaya to fight the COVID-19 outbreak effectively, the NEC said in its statement issued here on Friday.
This release is in the nature of an untied fund, which can be utilized as gap funding on activities relating to COVID-19 pandemic not covered under existing central packages, it said.
The NEC said the flexibility of untied funds would enable the State to respond effectively in a timely manner as per the situation on the ground.
“This release would be in addition to the funds otherwise allocated by the Ministry of DoNER/NEC to the State of Meghalaya under existing schemes,” it added.
Meanwhile, the NEC also said that the present primary focus of both central and state Government is to effectively deal with the serious threat posed by COVID-19 and ensure that it is brought under control with the active participation of the whole Society.
By Our Reporter
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