NEW DELHI: In an exclusive interview to the TOI Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan speaks on why the Corona spread in his state, especially in Indore and Bhopal is on a “rapid increase” when it started with very low numbers. Speaking to Mohua Chatterjee, the chief minister says while Tableeghi Jamat members back from Delhi may have caused some damage, it was also a whole lot of people who returned from abroad and hid their travel history that is to blame. He talks of why Indore has turned out as a big hub for the virus, on unfortunate incidents like quarantined patients fleeing from hospital, wheat procurement plans, unemployment and more.Q1) Do you feel taking over as chief minister in the time of Corona was a challenge, as the regime change left you with no system in place to deal with the pandemic?A) It is a challenging time not only for the state, but the entire country. From the moment when I was sworn in, my focus has been preventing the spread of Covid-19 Initially there were few cases found in Madhya Pradesh, primarily in Jabalpur and after that a rapid increase in the number of cases around major cities like Indore and Bhopal raised the index. Tableeghi Jamat members who returned from Delhi are also a reason for this sudden rise as they responded reluctantly and also people who were back to the state from foreign visits and hid themselves at first for some reason in Indore and Bhopal region.But now, we have increased our medical facilities and we are consistently trying to strengthen our medical Infrastructure. New cases are being found but we have created different zones across the state. More than 400 containment areas i.e. hot spots have been created in the 26 districts. 100% survey and contact tracing is being done in all such areas. Screening and quarantining of more than 55,000 people from abroad have been undertaken. Arrangements have also been made to ensure availability of ration and all other important items in such areas. Hotspots have been sealed. The health department is working with full force.Q2) You still have no cabinet. How are you running a big state without ministers to oversee departments like health, agriculture, labour?A) Yes, it is right that the cabinet plays a crucial role, working in a team helps during challenging times. Safety of public representatives is also important and every representative is somehow a part of this fight. I am continuously coordinating with MLAs and MPs and with their consultation and suggestions I am taking many decisions for the state. We have just formed a committee of 10 members to look after different aspects of this fight against COVID-19. We are also continuously thinking in this regard, discussions are on, whatever decisions are taken, you will certainly get information about it.Q3) How did Indore turn into a Corona hub? How do you deal with it? Any specific plans for Indore?A) Indore is our prime commercial centre, a densely populated city. It is a place where a large number of people travel abroad for business purposes. Initially such people hid their travel histories and somehow came into contact with others and resultantly this infection spread from one to another.But now special attention is on cases found here. In Indore, the entire state machinery, the police, administration, along with cooperation of public representatives, social workers, other organizations, media and local people have come together to fight Corona. I am regularly reviewing the situation in Indore and elsewhere through regular video conferencing.I have instructed for effective implementation of the strategy to “identify, isolate, test and treat” (IITT) in all districts of the state including Indore. The corona testing rate in Indore is much higher than the rest of the state. 5120 samples have been taken in Indore, out of which 1000 samples have been sent to Delhi for testing. 489 teams are engaged in this work. So far, 3.9 lakh persons have been surveyed in the infected areas. A total of 12 to 13 lakh persons have been surveyed in the entire city. In the next 7 days, 20 to 21 lakh persons will be surveyed.There are also clear instructions for fair price ration to be sent out to all districts in sufficient quantity and there should be no delay in distribution of ration. If there is no situation of opening a shop, then the ration can be distributed from house-to-house. In order to ensure that vegetables and fruits of the farmers are not spoiled, outside the city decentralized purchase of their fruits and vegetables can be arranged in a protective manner.Following the Central instructions, a Containment Plan is ready, under which Plan A and Plan B have been prepared. In Plan A, the infected and suspects are monitored, in Plan B tests, blood samples, etc. are taken. Under rapid action, we have increased the number of investigation teams in the affected areas, in which three types of teams are working. A team gives public awareness and consultation. A team goes home to take samples and a team provides support to people on a psychological level and tries to remove the fear and tension prevalent in their mind. We have arranged for samples from homes in the affected areas instead of hospitals, so that the infected person can be tested in isolation.In Indore and Bhopal regions and surrounding areas, people have instructions to strictly follow social distancing. Due care with the best of equipments and gears and public health measures is being taken.Q4) For a third time, quarantined patients have fled from hospital in Indore, two people who fled are yet to be found. What are you doing about it?A) We are continuously trying to counsel such people, telling them not to be scared or misinformed about this disease and yet such things happen. Very unfortunate. The Centre, the state governments and the whole administrative system is repeatedly requesting people not to panic and to co-operate, instead there are some incidents which clearly disappoint us. Recently such incidents also happened in Uttar Pradesh. Anyone who goes against the law or refuse to co-operate should be brought to book under law. We are trying our best. The best treatment facilities are being provided to the patients of Corona in Indore. For this, all the medical facilities are available in the dedicated hospital there. Three-layer protocols are being followed by physicians to treat corona and the number of patients are getting better are going up.A system has been created through Map IT to monitor home quarantine here. Under this, if any person who is in quarantine leaves his house, an alert will reach the control room. The boundaries and infected areas of Indore district have been completely sealed and 3-tier blockade has been put in place. Persons who fled will be found soon.Q5) State lacks testing facilities, samples are being sent to Delhi. What’s the plan?A) We are trying to perform with utmost urgency. Today, our medical system is much stronger than what it was when I took charge. At present tests are being conducted in 9 labs in the state. There has been an increase in daily checks, now we are doing around 1100 tests daily. Process to start some more labs is in progress. Testing kits are available and are being supplied continuously. Talking about testing equipment, we have 21,020 RTPCR, 12,700 Manual RNA and 5700 VTM. PPE kits are around 75,000 with 2500 kits being distributed daily. We have started manufacturing PPE kits in Madhya Pradesh from 1st week of April. The store strength of N95 masks is 1.55 lakhs apart from another 1.50 Lakh N95 masks that have been distributed. The availability of hydroxychloroquine tablets is more than 33 lakhs. 2776 oxygen cylinder are in usable condition. More than 29,350 isolation beds are available. Around 840 ICU beds are available in state along with another availability of 690 ventilators .Q6) Indore has been a BJP stronghold for years. Big big leaders like Sumitra Mahajan, Kailash Vijaywarghiya among others are from the city. But local BJP leaders are nowhere to be seen on the ground in the city and people are attacking policemen trying to implement the lockdown. How will you control the situation?A) No one will be spared, who is found disobeying the law or risking the life of others during this time. Those who attacked officials are already behind bars under the provisions of the National Security Act. As far as first part of your question is concerned I would like to correct you, recently a 10 member committee to fight the pandemic more effectively across the state has been formed, which includes names of Kailash Vijaywargiya and many other seniors from BJP including ex-health minister Tulsi Silawat.Q7) Almost all top state health department officials have either tested positive or quarantined for Corona. How are you dealing with the situation?A) I would like to inform, that these personnel were the first ones on the frontiers to combat this battle so unfortunately they came in contact with the virus. For such officials due care is being taken to safeguard their lives, they are being quarantined for now. We are trying for their speedy recovery and their contact history is being checked. We are trying to know the reason behind their infection and the series of the people they met in the meantime. On getting the information based on protocol further actions will be taken by the district Authorities.It is also a fact that this war cannot be ceased at any condition and keeping this fact in mind, we have already prepared a second line of all the important officials, so that if one officer unfortunately becomes positive by any means, then there should be a second line of substitute officials to look after their duties.Q8) What is your wheat procurement plan? What about plans for MSME, farmers?A) We have formed a State level committee to discuss the measures to reboot the economy and regain momentum once the crisis blows over. Wheat procurement is in process already, we are planning to start manufacturing industries soon keeping the fact to follow the central guidelines regarding corona, we have already permitted the goods transportation and have made it lockdown free to keep the supply chain hassle free. Pharmaceutical industry and its production units are already functioning. We will gradually decide to reopen the remaining commercial activities across the state depending on the situations by that time. For now, we have also allowed small economic activities in the green zones and small towns of the state.Q9) Unemployment is a huge fallout of Corona. What’s the plan to deal with it?A) Financial rebuilding of the state and livelihood of the common people is our major concern. PM Narendra Modi has already requested organizations not to cut salaries of employees or to discharge them from their jobs and duties amidst these tough times. We are planning to compensate for the situation in the upcoming future and I assure you that we will certainly come up with a solution for it. We have already made some temporary arrangements by directly depositing funds in accounts of labourers and people belonging to below poverty line and those eligible under the social security schemes and by providing them 3 months ration. Our first focus to overcome the unemployment situation is speedy recovery and rebooting of industries and the commercial sector which are ceased temporarily.