Lockdown in Tripura will be fully lifted only after Covid-19 vaccination: CM Biplab Deb
Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb said the lockdown in the state would continue in some form or the other till a vaccine against Covid-19 is invented.
Deb made the remarks after holding a four and a half hour-long all-party meeting on Wednesday night. The meeting with eighteen political parties including ruling BJP, Congress, CPIM, ruling ally IPFT, INPT, among others started at 4 PM and continued till 8:30 PM.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, CM Deb said, "As of now, lockdown is there till May 3 and lockdown is the only way (against COVID-19). It is still a long way to exit lockdown in phased manner. It is impossible to resume inter-state bus, train or air services now. So, lockdown will remain. It is not that easy to exit lockdown. People have to accept lockdown as part of our lives".
The lockdown will continue and people have to live with it till a proper vaccine is invented, he added.
"Nearly all poor people of the state have received different amounts of financial benefits between Rs. 2,000-Rs. 5,000 in their bank accounts along with free ration supply to tide over difficulties of lockdown. We are a small state but we have taken initiatives to revive economy after lockdown. Fifty out of 75 industrial units at Bodhjungngar are already functional. We have already started working on primary sector because only it will help us," Deb said.
All Opposition party leaders said they support the government stand to continue the lockdown.
State Congress president Pijush Kanti Biswa, however, claimed the government benefits didn't reach the poor, especially those in tribal hamlets in the Tripura Tribal Areas Auonomous District Council (TTAADC).
At a media briefing last night, Cabinet spokesperson Ratan Lal Nath said that Tripura has sufficient food stocks including 76 days buffer stock of rice, 80 days stock of wheat, 42 days sugar stock, salt for 14 days, 17 days of lentil pulse stocks along with 7 days buffer stock of diesel, 9 days petrol stocks and 18,490 LPG cylinders.
(Inputs and image from theindianexpress.com)
