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Bhubaneswar: In the backdrop of the alleged poor health infrastructure in the State, especially in rural areas, BJP MLAs have urged Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Assembly Speaker Surjya Narayan Patro to take steps for an amendment to the rules for utilisation of MLALAD funds in the collective fight against Covid -19.
The legislators demand provisions for the utilisation of funds for augmentation of health infrastructure in rural areas ahead of a possible third wave of the Covid pandemic, which is most likely to affect children.
In a letter to the CM and the Speaker, they stated that the LAD funds should be allowed to be spent on setting up isolation centres, special covid care centres, for children, installation of beds with oxygen and ventilators at Primary Health Centres (PHC), Sub-divisional hospital (SDH) and Community Health Centres (CHC) , ambulance having ventilator facilities and setting up of oxygen plants at all CHCs and SDHs.
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"It seems that the State government had utterly failed to strengthen the health infrastructure at PHCs, CHCs, and sub-divisional level health centre if facilities available there are observed closely during first and second wave of the pandemic," they alleged in the letter.
It is also widely seen during the first and the second wave, the PSUs, industrial establishments, banks, private organisation had distributed masks from their own funds. Odisha government had also recently allowed MLAs to spend Rs 50 lakh from the MLALAD funds for distribution of masks in their respective constituencies.
