Mamata to attend PM Modi's virtual Covid review meeting today

Kolkata: Besides several issues related to the present COVID-19 situation, the release of around Rs 50,000 crore that the Centre owes to the state is also likely to come up in the video conference between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday.

The video conference comes ahead of Unlock 3 that would start from August 1 and would also include the inauguration of three laboratories of ICMR in Kolkata, Noida and Mumbai respectively.

This is the third time that the Chief Minister is going to hold the video conference with the Prime Minister in the run-up to the pandemic since March. On previous occasions, Banerjee has put across the situation in the state in the wake of the outbreak and also requested for the Centre's assistance in the form of special packages for all states to fight against the virus, mainly when the economy has nosedived due to the lockdown.

Banerjee had also urged the Centre to provide PPE kits and other safety equipment. Later, she had expressed her annoyance as the Centre neither provided necessary financial support nor the required quantity of safety kits.

This comes when Bengal is fighting against COVID-19 and aftermath of Super Cyclone Amphan. Despite Amphan-related loss to the tune of Rs 1.02 lakh crore, the Centre has given only Rs 1,000 crore.

The state government has pushed its sample testing to 16,045 on Sunday and aims to touch the mark of 25,000 sample testing per day in August. The new ICMR testing facility could thus be a great boost for the same purpose.

The Chief Minister had earlier requested the Centre to clear the amount due to the state as it will help fight Corona. According to experts, the issue will once again come up in Monday's meeting besides the discussion about the steps, including relaxations, that need to be taken during Unlock 3.

As an emphasis has been given to the prevalence of community transmission, it is likely to come up strongly in the Prime Minister's meeting with the Chief Ministers.

Meanwhile, a team of the Health ministry comprising researchers from the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), Chandigarh Post Graduate Institute and Pune Institute of Virology will be visiting the state in the first week of August. Earlier, two Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCT) had visited the state. Besides Bengal, such teams are also visiting other states including Delhi, Maharashtra and Punjab. Besides taking stock of the situation, they will also give necessary suggestions to the respective state governments.