COVID-19: Gehlot to urge PM to hold video conference with CMs
Aug 01, 2020
Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], August 1 : Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday said he would appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to hold a video conference with Chief Ministers for at least two days to know about the coronavirus situation in different states.
Gehlot told reporters here that the Rajasthan government was concerned about the loss in revenue collection in July.
"The last video conference with PM Modi was on 17 June. I will write to the Prime Minister to appeal to him for holding video conference with all Chief Ministers for two days so that everyone gets to speak. In this way, he will get feedback from states and what help can be given to states to combat the situation arising due to coronavirus," Gehlot said.
"We are concerned about revenue loss due to lockdown. I do not deem it fit to impose a lockdown again. People should follow guidelines," he said.
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenue collections in July totalled Rs 87,422 crore, 14 per cent less than in the past year as economic activities slowed down due to COVID-19 countrywide lockdown, the government said on Saturday.
Gehlot said Rajasthan is tackling COVID-19 in a good way.
"There is no need to fear coronavirus in the state as the mortality rate is low in Rajasthan. Cases are rising as we have increased testing. Rahul Gandhi had asked us in February to increase testing and we have done so. We are testing over 50,000 samples on a daily basis," he said.
As many as 563 new COVID-19 cases and 10 deaths were reported from Rajasthan on Saturday, taking the total coronavirus cases in the state to 42,646, said the State Health Department.
According to the official data, the state currently has 11,979 active cases and 29,977 recovered cases. With 10 more deaths, a total of 690 people have lost their lives to COVID-19.
