BALURGHAT: South Dinajpur District Magistrate Nikhil Nirmal answered the allegations and denied charges raised by BJP's Balurghat MP Sukanta Majumdar on misappropriation of Covid funds in Balurghat.
In a letter delivered to Majumdar on Friday by the Officer-in-Charge of DM's confidential section, Mahadyuti Adhikary said the concerned department had received no such complaints regarding the financial discrepancy in the utilisation of funds related to the pandemic management.
According to Adhikary, all decisions on Covid management are taken consensually at frequently held meetings
of the District Task Force which is chaired by the DM himself, comprising the Sabhadhipati, Superintendent of Police, CMOH, ADMs, SDOs and other public representatives.
"There is also a dedicated WhatsApp group where all issues related to COVID-19 management are shared amongst the members, thereby, aiding intersectional free flow of information across the administrative hierarchy," Adhikary said mentioning in the letter.
Grievances are addressed and duly monitored by the DM regularly in consultation with the health and police administration adhering to guidelines of the state government.
The concerned CMOH has also shared all information regarding Covid-related matters with the media through press releases everyday and thus, vindicating the transparency of the administration.
Apart from this, the district COVID-19 tracker is also uploaded on the district website daily.
The numbers in institutional quarantine facilities have deflated steadily because initially all migrant labourers returning to the district were made to stay there for 14 days as per the government protocol and now the figures have shrunk to a bare minimum which explains the diminishing count.
Currently, there are eight 'safe homes' in the district with a 388 functional bedded capacity.
"For all those staying in home isolation, there are calls from the District Control Room on a daily basis to check on their physical and mental well-being, apart from medicine kits being home delivered to alleviate their understandable anxiety," the letter further explained.