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New Delhi, April 27 (IANS): The central government, here on Monday, declared five of the eight northeast states — Sikkim, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Tripura — coronavirus free.
Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram had 8, 11 and 1 Covid-19 cases, respectively, and were waiting for them to test negative, Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Jitendra Singh said.
These states have not reported any new case in the last few days. "No new cases were added till Sunday night," Singh said.
He declared five N-E states Covid-19-free after a meeting through video link with senior North Eastern Council (NEC) officers as well representatives of different government bodies and public sector units.
He congratulated the state governments, their Chief Ministers and also the DoNER and the NEC officials for perfect coordination, which had made it possible.
The Minister also spoke about proposals received/under consideration from N-E states, like Mizoram, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur, for health-related projects devoted to the management of infections and Covid-19 care, critical care and upgraded healthcare. "These projects will be dealt with priority," Singh said.
Representatives of the North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation, the North East Handicraft and Handloom Development Corporation, the North Eastern Development Finance Corporation and the Cane and Bamboo Technology Centre also participated at the meeting.
Expressing satisfaction that the northeast has emerged as a model of development in the last six years under Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, Singh said the region had emerged as a model of effective, diligent and disciplined health management in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis.
The DoNER Ministry had placed Rs 25 crore at the disposal of N-E states in the initial stage itself, much before the lockdown, as gap-funding for Covid-19-related activities.
During the meeting, Singh also received updates on various economic activities in the recent days in the exempted areas, as per the Ministry of Home Affairs guidelines, which primarily included the bamboo-related activities.
Meanwhile, coronavirus has claimed 886 lives and infected over 21,000 people across the country.