Devbrat Patnaik

Bhubaneswar: In view of the situation arising out of nationwide COVID-19 lockdown, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today appealed all landlords to be compassionate towards the poor and waive off or at least defer the house rent by three months.

"It is time for everyone to be there for each other as the entire country is under lockdown and fighting an unprecedented pandemic of COVID-19. I appeal house owners to be compassionate to poor and waive off or at least defer the rent by 3 months," stated CM Naveen.

The world is facing an unprecedented crisis with COVID-19. The country as a whole is under lockdown, and we as a state are leaving no stone unturned in fighting this humanitarian challenge. Let each one of us rise up and be there for each other during these hard times. Appeal all landlords to be compassionate during this hour of crisis and waive off or at least defer the rent for our tenants for three months. Tenants should not be asked to vacate for non-payment of rents during this crisis period. Let us show the world that Odisha cares. - the CM appealed.

Prior to this, the CM had announced financial assistance of Rs 3000 each to street vendors across 114 ULBs to deal with the COVID-19 lockdown. This apart, free cooked food will be provided to the poor in rural and urban areas, he has assured.

It is pertinent to mention that a few days back the Home Ministry had asked all States/UTs to ensure effective implementation of the coronavirus lockdown measures and initiate necessary measures to mitigate economic hardship of migrant workers who are returning to their hometowns.

The notice also mentioned that employers must be instructed to give workers full wages on due date without deduction for the closed down period. Moreover, landlords can neither ask for rent for lockdown period from workers including the migrants living in rented accommodation nor ask them to vacate the house, the Home Ministry had clarified.

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