'Rs 17000 cr for states; not a rupee for Delhi?': Kejriwal govt hits out over Covid relief

Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia has said that the Union Government is being discriminatory in nature and is not distributing funds equally to all states. Sisodia has said that Delhi has received no funds even though other states have received Rs 17,000 crore (in all). 

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Sisodia claims politics 

In a tweet on Saturday evening, Sisodia stated that the Centre's Disaster Management fund has been allocated to all states but not a single rupee to Delhi. 

He has also stated that the Delhi government has not been given the money required to purchase PPE for doctors and other health care professionals. He stated that it was shocking that Delhi did not get the amount of Rs 11,000 crores given to states to fight this disaster. 'This is biased behavior against Delhi. It shows that Central govt is doing politics at the time of the pandemic.'

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On Saturday, Delhi's Health Minister Satyendra Jain also highlighted the need for more Personal protective equipment (PPE) since the Delhi government has only stock worth two to three days left. The government will be needing 50,000 more PPE and has asked the Central government to distribute the supplies as per the workload and the number of cases. 

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Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday approved the release of Rs 11,092 crore to states to set up quarantine facilities and take other measures to contain the spread of novel Coronavirus. Various states have been demanding more Central funds to deal with a surge of COVID-19 infections which has raised pressure on already creaky public health infrastructure. The latest package was released under the first instalment of the State Disaster Risk Management Fund (SDRMF).

The move came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured Chief Ministers that the Centre will provide necessary assistance to states to combat the epidemic.

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