Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in his speech on Thursday while speaking at Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s video conference had a list of complaints that the centre did not fulfil amidst coronavirus pandemic.
Nitish Kumar while talking to PM Modi highlighted about centre’s failures on delivering an adequate supply of PPE kit, N95 masks and ventilators.
He says,” we are running short of protective gear for medical personnel, and other facilities sought by the state, he said as, against a requisition of five lakh PPE kits, we have gotten only 4,000 till date.”
A total of only 50,000 N95 masks have been supplied though we have sought 10 lakhs.
The number of RNA extraction kits made available stands at just 250 though we require 10,000, and we are yet to be provided with 100 additional ventilators which we need for effective treatment of infected patients, he added.
Nitish Kumar had also drawn Prime Minister’s attention to the ongoing economic crisis happening due to Covid-19, Nitish Kumar urged the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act to raise to “4 per cent or more than the current fiscal deficit on which a cap of 3 per cent of GDP has been put.
He gave an example of 2009-10 where an impending global economic meltdown took place, the fiscal deficit was raised from 3 to 4 per cent, and again from 3.38 per cent to 3.5 per cent in the next fiscal.
Nitish Kumar has also informed the Prime Minister that out of a total of 24 COVID-19 cases that are reported in Bihar, two have recovered so far while the deceased ended up infecting 11 people who came in contact with him at his home or at hospitals.
Nitish Kumar reiterates that he has launched a drive to provide financial assistance of Rs 1000 to each ration card-holding family in the state, through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system, by a click of the mouse.
A sum of Rs 184.08 crore was transferred, on the inaugural day of the drive, into the bank accounts of about 18.40 lakh people.
