Coronavirus Outbreak: Assam To Provide Mid-Day Meals At Home, Tripura To Start Community Kitchen For Homeless

"We have ensured that the students do not go to sleep hungry and for that, the state government has decided that to provide mid-day meals to students at home," Assam Chief Secretary, Kumar Sanjay Krishna, was quoted by India Today.

He said that 40 lakh students in Guwahati will be provided mid-day meals at home.

Elaborating on the measures taken by the state, Krishna added, "We have organised more than 2,000 facilities for quarantine and there are over 500 facilities for isolation. We have enough places for ICU facilities. We have about 150 ventilators and trying to procure some more which we will be getting within a week."

Meanwhile, the Tripura government will start community kitchens to provide cooked food packets for the urban homeless and urban poor. For this, the government has sought the help of self-help groups and public service foundations.

Urban development director Dr Shailesh Kumar Yadav, in an order, asked officials of 20 urban local bodies of the state to set up kitchens to prepare food in every urban body.

"Any good ALF of SHG under DAY-National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM) may be deployed for cooking and making food packets. Distribution of food packets to be urban poor twice daily may be done by using one or more dedicated vehicles by the respective urban local bodies," the order read.

The state government has set up control rooms in all districts to coordinate information related to coronavirus. Furthermore, Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Wednesday launched 50 ambulances for emergency services.