We Are Well Equipped To Deal With The Situation: Pinarayi Vijayan
Pinarayi Vijayan
This is the entire transcript of India Today‘s interview with Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, about the state’s fight against coronavirus.
Q: Do you have enough supplies? It’s a question which is being asked everywhere. You are a consumer state, given the lock down for 21 days, how are you ensuring that the people will get food and other essential goods Mr. Chief Minister?
Pinarayi Vijayan (PV): We are well equipped to deal with the situation. We have enough stock of food grains and essential commodities, that is enough and more, for more than three months. So, the possibility of panic-buying is also totally ruled out.
Q: So, you are saying you have enough stock to last this entire period — no problem with that. The other fear, Mr. Chief Minister, is that, in the coming weeks, there will be an exponential increase in the number of positive cases. We have already seen Kerala’s cases rise manifold in the last few days. Does your health care system have the capacity to meet the challenge, if there is an explosion in the number of coronavirus cases?
PV: Based on our experience this far and the steps taken so far, we do not foresee an exponential growth. However, we are geared up to meet any eventuality. Buildings are being taken over and systems are being put in place to ensure adequate quarantine, isolation, observation medical assistance facilities – all these things are being done. Already 1, 60, 556 beds have been arranged, and twenty percent of these have been specifically reserved for this. Additional beds are also being mobilised. Adequate number of ICUs, ventilators etc. are also being arranged. As you are aware, we have clamped down a lock out all over the state from Monday. This is prior to the announcement of the national lock down announced by the Prime Minister on Tuesday. We have done everything possible to see that the spread is curbed with these steps.
Q: It is interesting, Mr. Chief Minister, that you are saying that you announced a complete lockdown of the state on Monday itself, that is, a day ahead of the Prime Minister’s announcement. Even I said last week, “What Kerala thinks today India thinks tomorrow”. And, one of the things that you have been pushing for is aggressive testing. You are testing more than other Indian states. Do you believe aggressive testing as the World Health Organization says, is the right way forward? Do you think that we have enough testing kits for corona? And, is that why we are not being able to increase testing because at the moment? We still don’t have enough testing kits?
PV: Testing in Kerala is happening at a rate which is unmatched by any other state. In a health emergency like this, we feel that this should be expedited. Also, the Government of India should decide on rapid testing as well, instead of the PCR tests now adopted. Approval of testing centres etc. are done by the Government of India. Kerala Government has rolled out Rs. 20,000 crore special package to overcome this in the COVID-19 package. It takes on an inclusive view and ensures that no one is left behind. It covers a health package, loan assistance schemes, welfare pensions, MNREGA, free food waves, subsidized meals, tax relief and arrear clearance. One of the major elements in this list is the loan assistance programs. Loans worth Rs. 2,000 crores worth will be made available to the families with the help of ‘Kudumbashree’. The most important point with regard to this is that the interest of those loans will be borne by the State. Such loans have helped many families to make a comeback in the period after floods.
The video of the interview can be found here.
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