No slowdown in Chhattisgarh during pandemic: CM Bhupesh Baghel at HTLS 2020

Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel said on Thursday the entire country suffered during the coronavirus pandemic but there was no slowdown in the state as his government took various steps to tackle the challenges. Baghel was speaking at the 18th edition of the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit.

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“The first thing we did when the nationwide lockdown was announced was to provide free ration to the poor for three months,” Baghel said during the third and last session of the day. He was speaking with Sunetra Choudhury, HT’s national political editor. “The initiatives we took benefitted every person in Chhattisgarh. We provided free food and other facilities to the resident. Only 26,000 workers left the state, while 700,000 came back. But we never let Covid-19 take a toll on the state’s economy. The entire country suffered, but there was no slowdown in Chhattisgarh,” said Baghel.

Speaking about the vaccine against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), the Chhattisgarh chief minister said the Centre must clarify all aspects right from its price, availibility and ditribution of the shots to people in the states. He pointed to the issues faced by the states after the Centre issued guidelines about PPEs, oxygen cylinders and other equipment needed to fight the rising cases of Covid-19.

The coronavirus pandemic has changed the way politics is being approached, Baghel said. “Before this, nothing could move forward without leaders meeting people and party workers but everything has been halted due to Covid-19. Thanks to technology, we can hold virtual conferences and reach out to people. But these changes in our daily lives have been unexpected,” said Baghel.

Before Baghel, defence minister Rajnath Singh and State Bank of India chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara spoke at HTLS 2020. Randeep Guleria, director of Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Brown University School of Public Health dean Dr Ashish K Jha and Serum Institute of India CEO Adar Poonawalla spoke on the first day of HTLS. Veteran cricketer Kapil Dev and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal were the guests on Day 2 of HTLS. The theme of this year’s HTLS, which is being held virtually, is ‘Defining a New Era’ as the world grapples with the coronavirus pandemic. The live discussions with leaders across sectors will be spread over four weeks and will be held every Thursday and Friday.

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