'Industrial activities in Uttarakhand resumed as per Centre's guidelines': Minister

Industrial activities in Uttarakhand have resumed in accordance with Centre’s lockdown guidelines, State Cabinet Minister Madan Kaushik said on Sunday.

"Industrial activities have been started in the state under the guidelines of the central government. 4,747 industries have been given permission to operate. 1.75 lakh workers will be employed. Many of these units have started work. Mining has also been started considering the need for construction works," Kaushik said in a press conference.

The minister said that more than 8,000 operations of MNREGA have commenced and over 93,000 workers have got back to their jobs.

"New registrations have also been done in MNREGA. Work has also been provided to new people joining MNREGA. In the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, 307 works have been allowed from the districts. It will employ 16,600 personnel and workers," he said.

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CM releases state COVID-19 relief funds

Briefing on the various relief measures announced by Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat for the people, Kaushik said that Rs 85 crore has been released from the SDRF fund to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak.

Besides, Department of Medical Education has been allocated Rs 10 crores from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund to strengthen the capacity of identified hospitals to combat the deadly virus.

In case of loss of life of any frontline warrior, the Uttarakhand government has arranged to provide Rs 10 lakh to their family members. In addition to this, nearly13.49 lakh ration cardholders are being provided rice at the price of Rs 3 per kilogram and wheat at Rs 2 per kilogram.

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"Under the State Food Scheme, for the 10.28 lakh families, the State government has increased the distribution scale per card for three months (April-May June 2020) to 20 kg of food grains (10 kg wheat and 10 kg rice) per card. Under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, 5 kg of rice per person per month is being distributed to 13.49 lakh families free for three months," the minister said.

Kushal also said that Rs 1,000 in two installments have been given to workers associated with the construction works. About 1.98 lakh people said to have benefited from this.

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(With inputs from ANI)

(Image credits: PTI file photo)