Chennai: Amid a steady increase in the number of coronavirus tests and ominously low revenue collection rates, the Tamil Nadu government has urged the Centre to consider releasing funds to help the state continue its battle against the pandemic.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to enable funds for Covid-19 related relief work. In a video conference with Modi, Tamil Nadu highlighted the immediate need for Rs 3,000 crore in the state’s battle against COVID-19.
The Tamil Nadu government also requested the Modi government to provide funds for procuring high-end ventilators.
“I would like to highlight that Tamil Nadu is continuing its strategy of aggressive, targeted testing and is currently conducting the maximum number of PCR tests in the country. Tamil Nadu presently has 130 labs for COVID testing with 61 government and 69 private lambs, with an average testing capacity of 65,000 tests per day. These tests cost nearly 5 crore rupees a day. I request Government of India to fund 50% of the cost of the PCR tests from the PM-cares fund,” Palaniswami said.
Palaniswami also told the PM that Chennai is seeing a decline in coronavirus positive casesm adding that the officials are trying to use similar strategies in other districts.
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