Shillong, May 13: The Thma U Rangli-Juki and the Workers Power of Meghalaya have demanded the state government to provide Rs 6000 per month to each working people whose livelihoods have been disrupted during the period of lockdown and containment measure imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a joint memorandum to Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Thursday, the two organizations also demanded that all ration for BPL families should be free for the period of the lockdowns and containment measures.
They also said that all farmers produce meant for market should be bought by the government as a minimum support price.
Regarding the need to improve the health infrastructure, TUR and WPM suggested that Medical Corona Care facilities should not be created or augmented in Shillong and Tura only adding every district headquarter should have such a facility with proper personnel immediately.
They also asserted that money spent for the creation of large pre fab Corona care medical facility in Shillong and Tura at the rate of 2.5 crore each, totaling to 5 crores needs to be scaled down and similar structures should come up in the district headquarters attached to the respective Civil Hospitals and CHC and or speedy upgradation of these centers.
Disclosures on the utilization of 75 crores announced last year as financial commitment towards strengthening and upgrading of PHCs and CHSs needs to be made public immediately.
The two organizations also stressed on the need for an immediate audit of the private hospital bills and prescription and a cap put on the out-of-pocket expenses which the patients have to make.
“We demand that the treatment for Corona patients should be totally free even in the private health facilities,” they said.
To encourage people to home isolate, the government needs to bring back home isolation care packages with food grain and other essential items for the isolating patient/family in addition to medical kits containing oximeters and medicines.
Government needs to establish accessible and free Corona Care Centers for those citizens whose living conditions/habitation makes it difficult to home isolate. These corona care centers should be run in association with local self-government institutions and should be adequately funded.
