MUMBAI: NCP president Sharad Pawar, the chief architect of Maha Vikas Aghadi, has stepped in to tackle the COVID 19 crisis in Maharashtra by holding a series of meeting and monitoring the situations closely.
The Maratha strongman had a meeting with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and other ministers where they discussed the strategy to deal with the health and economic crisis.
Pawar also visited National Sports Complex (Worli) and BKC (Bandra) which have now been converted into quarantine centre for thousands of suspected coronavirus patients in Mumbai.
Pawar asked the administration to conduct the test in large numbers and isolate the invested people and their contacts. “Pawar saheb at the age of 80 coming on-field. This itself is a big message to everyone. His presence will instil the confidence among everyone from administration to common man. The time has come to reopen the economy by following social distancing norms. We cannot lock the people in their houses forever. Along with health, the economy is also the main wheel,” said Sanjay Tatkare, the NCP spokesperson.
Tatkare said that Sharad Pawar has a lot of experience in handling crisis situations.“During the Kutch earthquake in 1993, he was made the disaster management head by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpai even though Pawar saheb was in Oppositions. His work was appreciated by everyone. Now, our party will play a key role in tackling the corona crisis successfully,” Tatkare said.
Sharad Pawar had asked the state government to do the micro-planning for each civic ward, areas and execute it. As part of it, ministers of Maha Vikas Aghadi has been given the responsibility of each area of Mumbai and its suburb.
Nawab Malik has been given the responsibility Kurla area where the large numbers of COVID 19 patients are emerging. He said that they preparing the micro-planning for each area. “We are also asking extra beds from private hospitals and even talk to some of Madarsas to offer their space to start the quarantine centre. We have to use all available space to contain the spreading of COVID-19,” said Malik.