Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Tuesday directed the Supply Department to strengthen the supply chain to ensure smooth delivery of essential commodities during the lockdown period in the state necessitated by novel corona virus outbreak.
Ina meeting with the Supply Department which was also attended by Food, CivilSupply and Consumer Affairs Minister Phani Bhusan Chowdhury and TransportMinister Chandra Mohan Patowary, Chief Minister Sonowal asked the Supply andTransport Departments to work in unison to strengthen the existing supply chainto make essential food stuff available to the consumers. He also said thatsince lockdown concept is very new to the state, special care should be taken onthe part of both Supply and Transport Department to work synergistically toaddress any shortfall of supply.
Healso asked the Additional Chief Secretary Food and Civil Supply DepartmentSyedain Abbasi to keep a close vigil on the market with his men to identifyunscrupulous elements which taking advantage of the situation may indulge inhoarding and create artificial shortages of essential commodities. He alsoasked the department to have a watch on the market so that prices of essentialcommodities can be controlled.
ChiefMinister Sonowal also emphasized on strengthening and pushing forward thesupply chain to ensure adequate supply of all essential commodities in everynook and corner of the state. He also asked Additional Chief Secretary Abbasito hold a meeting with the North East Frontier Railway to streamline themovement of goods trains in the state without any hindrance. He also asked himto draw a road map in the view of the changing demand supply quotient in thewake of Covid 19 outbreak. Sonowal also gave a direction to the Chief SecretaryKumar Sanjay Krishna and DGP Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta to have joint videoconference with the DCs and SPs on a daily basis to assess ground situation in everydistrict.
Sonowalalso maintained that since the entire world is waging a war against an unseen,infectious element, Assam cannot remain aloof from its menace and therefore,urged upon the people of the state to lend their hands to make the lock down asuccess. He also maintained that in the absence of standard treatment sincesocial distancing and avoidance of any social gathering are regarded as thegolden principle, everybody should remain inside and save the state from thescourge of novel corona virus infection.
