Tackling the Corona Pandemic: Arunachal Pradesh
As humanity battles the coronavirus pandemic with various degree of success, India has implemented its second phase of lockdown from 15 April to 3 May 2020. India has deployed various measures to curb the spread of COVID-19; however, in a country as diverse as India, each state requires different approach and extra attention. Here are some the policies adopted by Arunachal Pradesh in our fight against COVID-19 and maintaining lockdown in the state.
Early Stage
Arunachal Pradesh was one of the early adopters in implementation of lockdown, which started from 17 March and was supposed to end on 5 April 2020, but later extended in line with the national lockdown.
Control Centres & Helpline Numbers
With the lockdown in effect Arunachal Pradesh has been swift with setting up COVID control rooms in each district with respective helpline numbers, including the state control room and helpline numbers:
Click here to know State and District Control Room details:
In addition, the state has also set up various helpline numbers for people affected directly or indirectly due to the lockdown.
Helpline numbers for people stranded inside the state (Capital Region): +91-8131083785, +91-9436835999, +91-7638918220, +91-9402476906, +91-8787632979.
Helpline numbers for issues relating to price hike (Capital Region):
Dolang Akom, Member Secretary (APMC) +91-9436258788
Taba Tebin Assistant Director Legal Metrology +919436051161
Ashok Tajo EAC (Naharlagun) +91-9436046730
Amit Bengia (DFCSO) +91-8415921289
Relief activities
Various donations forum has been set up by the State Govt. and other individual organizations to aid in the relief effort with relation to COVID-19 and lockdown. Most prominent being under Chief Minister Relief Fund (CMRF).
Some of the prominent reliefs so far are:
- Under the CMRF, the government is providing Rs 3,500 to each Arunachali person stranded outside the state amid nationwide COVID-19 lockdown.
- Rs 1,000 to all farmers registered under the PM-KISAN scheme.
- Free LPG cylinders for Ujjwala beneficiaries for three months under PM Garib Kalyan Yojana.
Several organizations have come forward to help create awareness, as well as in assisting the poor and underprivileged by supplying essential commodities:
Mission Sahayog – A campaign by the Arunachal Pradesh Doctors Association (APDA) to provide essentials and medical facilities.
138 Bn CRPF door to door awareness campaign.
Arunachal Pradesh Women Welfare Society (APWWS) stitching and distributing homemade masks and donating essentials, food and money.
Mask4Arunachal – A campaign by Indian Medical Association Arunachal Pradesh to encourage mask usage.
Mask4all – A campaign by the Indian Medical Association Arunachal Pradesh to provide free handmade masks.
Distribution of rations by the District Administration of each district.
Digital Presence
With the idea of Stay Safe, Stay Home along with the principle of maintaining social distancing, the state has several digital platforms for providing assistance to the citizens:
Social Networking Sites – Pages like MyGOV Arunachal, Arunachal against Corona, Arunachal IPR, Department of Health Arunachal Pradesh, etc. provides daily updates on the situation of lockdown and COVID-19 in the state in addition with raising awareness and debunking fake news and false rumours.
COVIDcare – An app launched by the State Government for those in quarantine, to allow them to self-report their health status and offer them crucial COVID-19 related information.
Telemedicine services – Launched in collaboration with the State Government and Indian Medical Association to provide consultancy with doctors via phone.
The online presence in the state is not just limited to this as each district, city/village, the community has its own WhatsApp or Facebook groups which helps them communicate and keep the citizens vigilant.
Conclusion
As of 18 April 2020, Arunachal Pradesh has maintained its place in being the state with the least number of COVID-19 patients, which shows the efficiency of the measures taken by the State Govt. thanks to all the government and independent bodies.
Let us keep things positive, help whom we can and maintain lockdown guidelines so that we may all play our part in getting rid of the pandemic.
