HYDERABAD: The lockdown period has been extended up to April 30 in the State. The State Cabinet took a decision to this effect on Saturday. Speaking to reporters later, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said that he would write a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi informing the State Cabinet’s decision to extend the lockdown in the State.
The Chief Minister said that at present 1,654 people are under quarantine and their period would be completed by April 24. “If there are no new Covid-19 cases, then the State government will think of lifting the lockdown in phases after April 30. I pray to the almighty that there should not be new cases,” the Chief Minister said. Informing that the Cabinet also discussed the academic calender, he said: “The intermediate examinations are over. We will think of conducting the SSC examinations shortly.
The students studying from 1st class to ninth class will be promoted automatically. There is no detention system in the State.” The Chief Minister said that the Cabinet decided to give water to farmers under all irrigation projects up to April 15. Besides, the State Cabinet also decided to give guarantee to Markfed for `800 crore for the purchase of Bengal gram, which will hit the markets later this week.
The Chief Minister said that he had requested the Prime Minister to apply all the benefits extended to PMCARES to CMRF funds too. “The State government is working hand in hand with the Central government on controlling the spread of Coronavirus,” Rao said.The Chief Minister said that the State revenues till date in April was `100.15 crore against the monthly revenue of `4,000 crore. “Borrowings seem to be the only option during this crisis,” he said
Defer debt service by six months: KCR
The Chief Minister also demanded the Centre to defer by six months the entire debt service (principal repayments and interest payment) of all the State’s development loans and the loans taken by the State PSUs based on the government guarantee and negotiated loans. “The ways and means of advance, increased by 30 per cent recently by the RBI to manage temporary mismatches in liquidity, may be further increased by 100 per cent,” he said. When reporters brought to the notice of the Chief Minister that private hospitals were not even attending the serious cases, Rao directed the Chief Secretary to conduct a review and give direction to hospital managements to treat the serious cases.
Restrictions & exemptions
16 new +ve cases, two more deaths
Telangana recorded two deaths and 16 new Covid-19 positive cases on Saturday, according to media bulletin released by the State government. The total of number of positive cases in the State so far are 503, which includes 393 active cases, 96 discharged cases and 14 deaths. In a positive development, 51 persons who recovered from the virus were discharged on the day. The Chief Minister, meanwhile, announced that 243 hotspots have been identified in the State, including 123 in Hyderabad.