Punjab to lift partial lockdown only for farmers

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New Delhi, April 10 (IANS) Punjab Chief Captain Amrinder has said that the state will be lifting partial lockdown only for farmers from April 15 and for this a mechanism has been put in place to ensure social distancing and other precautions.

However, he said the lockdown should continue.

The Punjab CM claimed that during lockdown, the illegal drug supply chain has ben broken in the state.

Speaking at a press conference conducted by AICC, the CM said: "We are lifting (the harvest) for farmers district-wise and village-wise so that there is no rush at the purchasing place."

For this the number of mandis has been increased from 1,800 to 3,800. "The task is huge as the state is expecting a bumper harvest. Around 75 per cent of it is expected to come into the market for smooth procurement," said the Chief Minister, adding he has taken up manufacturing of jute bags with West Bengal for storage of the food grain.

In its efforts to contain the virus, one positive impact is that "the drug supply chain has been broken in the state".

The state has quarantined about 14,000 people who returned from abroad and most of them have completed their quarantine period, he added.

The Punjab CM said 651 people from Punjab had attended the Markaz event in Delhi out of which 636 have been traced and 15 are untraceable. As many as 27 Markaz returnees have been found corona positive.

Amrinder Singh said the emergency fund given by the Centre is far too less to fight the pandemic. "Feeding people and ensuring medical supplies are the most crucial aspects".

He said due to scarcity of testing kits, only 2,877 tests have so far been conducted. "The government is acquiring more testing kits for second testing".

--IANS

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