Centre gave Rs 262cr to Assam for COVID fight, public donated Rs 116.89cr

The Assam government hasreceived financial assistance of over Rs 262 crore from theCentre for management of COVID-19 pandemic and rolling out thevaccination drive, state Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarmasaid on Friday.

Presenting the 'Vote on Account Budget for 2021-22',Sarma said the government allocated an additional Rs 760 crorefor prevention and management of the pandemic to the generalbudget grant of Rs 6,126 crore to the Health Department in theongoing fiscal.

''To finance our fight against COVID-19, we received agrant of Rs 72.73 crore for 2019-20 from Ministry of Healthand Family Welfare. In addition, we received Rs 182 crorerecently for 2020-21 for COVID-19 management,'' he added.

For the rollout of the first phase of the vaccinationprogramme for the frontline workers, the Centre has provided agrant of Rs 2.46 crore to Assam, Sarma said in his speech.

''In addition, we have also received funds amounting toRs 4.99 crore and Rs 8.36 crore from the Development of NorthEastern Region (DONER) Ministry and GIZ India for managementof COVID-19,'' he said.

During the pandemic, the public made a generousfinancial contribution of Rs 116.89 crore to the Assam AarogyaNidhi in a very short time span, but that amount has not beenused as of now, the finance minister informed the assembly.

''I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to allthe donors who stood by us in this crisis... The entire fundhas been kept intact and we will utilise it with utmostprudence to fight COVID-19 in the coming times,'' he said.

Stating that managing the COVID-19 pandemic has been''probably one of greatest moments of satisfaction for me in myentire public life'', Sarma thanked the doctors, paramedicaland nursing staff, enforcement departments, districtadministrations and health department.

''While the role of doctors and nurses has beencritical in saving lives, the services rendered by the otherhealthcare staff were no less important in ensuring thefunctioning of the facilities and they are the unsung heroesin the true sense,'' he added.

As a result of a coordinated effort by all, the statehas consistently maintained a high COVID-19 recovery rate of98.73 per cent and one of the lowest mortality rates at 0.5per cent, which has been nationally and globally acknowledged,claimed Sarma, who is also the state health minister.

He further said that the vaccination drive to give thepeople a reasonable safety net is the next objective with aprovision of 6.6 lakh vaccine doses.

''I am happy to inform this august House that more than1.15 lakh doses inoculations have been conducted till date. Inparallel, the fight to keep further waves of this virus fromappearing in our state continues,'' he said.

Sarma also said that during the course of the lastyear, the government set up 1,000 ICU beds and 4,500 regularhospital beds along with a provision of 1,408 ventilators and4,541 oxygen cylinders for the fight against the pandemic.

Besides, he acknowledged the services by theAccredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers during theCOVID-19 pandemic and recognising their importance, thegovernment decided to enhance the wages of 32,546 ASHA workersby Rs 1,000 per month.

Sarma said the COVID-19 pandemic not only threatenedthe lives and health of people, but also resulted in a never-witnessed-before lockdown across the globe, including India,which impacted the GDP.

''Assam too faced adverse growth figures, especially inthe first two quarters of this financial year, and our revenuetargets were affected. Our State, however, exhibited exemplaryresilience and financial adroitness.

''I am justifiably proud of the fact that we did notmake any deductions in the salaries of our governmentemployees, as had been the case with some other states, andalso ensured a timely disbursement of their pensions,'' thefinance minister said.