GUWAHATI: The BJP government in Tripura is seeking to boost people’s immunity to keep coronavirus at bay.
It will launch a month-long programme whereby the urban population will be provided with Vitamin C-enriched juice and fruits for free.
Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb believed the step would help boost the immunity of people, especially the weaker sections.
“Healthy society is the foundation for socio-economic development of any state. Keeping this in view, our government has decided to introduce public immunity-boosting programme in urban areas for next one month. The fruits will be directly purchased from our farmers,” the CM tweeted on Tuesday night.
Under the programme, Vitamin C-enriched juice and fruits, especially pineapples and lemons, will be distributed among the urban population through self-help groups every Saturday in July. Teams of the National Urban Livelihood Mission will closely monitor the scheme for its effective implementation, Deb added.
The state Cabinet finalised the scheme on Tuesday.
The “Public Immunity-Boosting Programme”, to be implemented by Urban Development and Rural Development departments, will entail expenditures of Rs 1 crore, the state’s Law and Education Minister Ratan Lal Nath said.
“The basic idea behind the programme is to thwart the infection of Covid-19 by boosting people’s immunity,” Nath, who is also the government spokesman, said.
Tripura is known for its exotic and juicy pineapple varieties – Kew and Queen that are also exported. The state’s annual pineapple production is around 1.3 lakh tonnes. The Queen variety was declared Tripura’s “State Fruit” in 2018 by President Ram Nath Kovind.
Pineapples in the state are grown in 9,628 hectares of land by an estimated over 5,000 farmers.
With 1,393 cases so far, Tripura recorded the second-highest number of Covid-19 cases in Northeast after Assam. Currently, there are 307 active cases.