Bhubaneswar: Odisha Assembly Speaker Surjya Narayan Patro will chair an all-party meeting, virtual, on the Covid-19 situation in the State on May 17.
The virtual meeting will be attended by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and MLAs of all the parties in the State.
According to sources, the current fight of the State against Covid-19 and the future strategy to keep the pandemic in check will be up for discussion in the meeting.
“MLAs of all the political parties have expressed their willingness to be part of the discussion. Odish’a fight against the pandemic so far will be discussed during the meeting,” said Patro.
“We will also discuss about the vaccination drive in the State, supply of Oxygen to the patients and future strategy for keeping the pandemic in check. We are looking forward for a positive participation of the leaders across all political parties. Hopefully, an effective solution will come which will help us deal with the fight against the virus,” he said.
Meanwhile, Opposition leaders have welcomed the move in the crucial time of the pandemic.
“We welcome the all-party meeting convened by the Speaker. The State government should provide employment opportunity to the jobless people during the Covid-19 enforced lockdown period,” said Congress senior leader Sura Routray.
“In the wake of the surge in the pandemic, migrant Odias are returning to the State in large numbers. It will lead to the spread of the virus further. I urge the State government to facilitate the return of the migrants to the State after proper test,” said Routray.
(Edited By Pradeep Singh)