While most of us generally criticise the civic body for its sloppy administration, its Pune Covid-19 Response War Room Dashboard, published by it, gives an insight into the money pumped in for fighting the COVID-19 war in Pune.
In many areas of Pune, it is a group of good Samaritans, NGOs, religious organisations and social forums which are addressing the needs of the poor and the migrant labourers.
In fact, several citizens say that corporators are conspicuous by their absence save a few, who are working hard on the ground. In fact, corporators in several wards are seeking monetary donations from residents in order to buy and distribute grocery to the needy. Of course there are a few like Siddharth Shirole (corporator from Deccan Gymkhana) who has been working relentlessly on ground.
To be fair, Mayor Murlidhar Mohol released Rs.1.48 crore from the Mayor’s fund from which PPE kits, N95 masks and VTM worth Rs. 98 lakhs have been procured and Rs.50 lakh donated to Sasoon Hospital.
MLAs of Pune too have come forward with financial help. Former Mayor Mukta Tilak gave Rs. 50 lakh from which 3000 N95 Masks, 2500 PPE kits, 1800 VTM (testing) kits and Rs, 40 lakh was spent for other medical requirement. Madhuri Misal also donated Rs.50 lakh from which 3000 N95 Masks, 10,000 sanitizers, 1000 VTM kits and 2500 Medical PPE Kits costing Rs.35 lakh were bought. MLA Sharadh Ranpise donated Rs.20lakh from which 1290 PPE Kits, 7500 VTM kits, 58 Infrared thermometers were bought. Similarly Anant Gadgil donated 7 lakh rupees from which 98 Infrared Thermometers were bought. Neelam Gohne donated 20 lakh from which 400 PPE Kits, 10,000 sterile surgical Gloves, 1 lakh face masks and 2300 N95 Masks were bought. Mahadev Jankar donated Rs.10 lakh out of which 1075 PPE Kits have been bought. Chandrakant Dada Pati has also donated 50 lakh from which medical equipment would be bought. Similarly, Sunil Tingre and Chetan Tupe have also donated Rs.50 lakh each and Bhimrao Tapkir has donated Rs.25.25 lakh.
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has spent Rs.69.7 Cr so far and is doing its bit to live up to the challenge of fighting the unprecedented pandemic.
It has invested in the following medical emergency facilities:
- Medicines : (Masks, Spray pump, Fogging machine, cleaning of clothes, Sodium Hypochloride solution, Hand
- Sanitizers, Medical Equipment) 2 Cr.
- Equipment for starting new ICU Facility 57 lakhs
- Oxygen cylinder Gas pipeline 34 lakhs
- Covid Care Centers cleaning and maintenance 4 Cr.
- Electrical equipment purchase 3 Cr.
- Vehicle Dept. 13 Cr.
- Bhavan Dept. – Covid centers maintenance and repairing 1.5 Cr
- Purchases by Central Stores Dept. (Kits and other items) 7 Cr
- Patient related Expenditure in Hospitals for expenses related to Private Hospitals 10 Cr
- Materials for purchasing equipment related to ICU 90.7 lakhs
- 10 IEC related expenses 40 lakhs
- Community Kitchen centers
Besides, the PMC has provided 103 ambulances to doctors and paramedical. Over 8500 people are being screened per day and as of 21st May, 5.18 lakh screenings have been carried out. Out of these 323 tested positive.
The PMC claims that, with a team comprising 1594 PMC employees, it has visited 100% houses and more than 50% houses are resurveyed for precautionary measures. On an average, 50,000 houses are being visited daily since last 10 days.
The PMC has also been magnanimous in case of COVID-19 deaths of its employees. Under the `Suraksha Kavach’ scheme; Rs.1 crore has been given as compensation to each of the five employees who died of this disease. For employees who are patients of COVID-19, the following facilities have been provided:
❖ 100% reimbursement of medical bills
❖ Special leave with 14 days Home quarantine for Covid Positives
❖ For contractual employees, treatment of Covid will be done
free of cost and paid leave will be sanctioned
❖ For the treating doctors and nursing staff separate residential
facilities in Hotels have been provided
❖ Safety gears like Masks, PPE Kits, sanitizers have been provided
Besides the police, the PMC has reached out help to the 8162 phone calls received from senior citizens and differently abled. The PMC has attended 7190 of them as of 21st May.
The PMC has also launched the mobile testing bus for mass screening in association with Krsnaa Diagnostics. This bus is equipped with a full-fledged coronavirus testing lab, x-ray examination facility and RT-PCR swab collection facility. It will use a combination of O2 saturation, AI-based X-rays for detecting novel coronavirus.
The PMC has also distributed around 30,000 Food packets to Migrant labourers and poor people in the last two months with the help of Community Central kitchen, NGO, CREDAI, CSR Companies, Foundations and Volunteers. The PMC also arranged for transportation of labourers to Railway stations and Bus stands for which PMPML has provided the buses, while PMC has funded it.
Impressive isn’t it?
Though there is a long way to go as Pune continues to be a hotspot. Kudos for its work and may PMC continue its mission to augment health care facilities and keep citizens safe.
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#StayHome #StaySafe
#All views expressed in this column are those of the author and Pune365 does not necessarily subscribe to them.
That's Vinita Deshmukh, Senior journalist and RTI activist who believes in journalism that reflects the views and needs of the common man.
Get Real And Stay Relevant says Vinita,
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