nA day ahead of meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Monday said his government had sought Rs 30,000 crore to fight Covid-19 and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) due to Chhattisgarh has not been cleared by the Centre.
He has interacting with the media at the Swami Vivekananda Airport here on his return from a two-day visit to Kerala. He said he went to pay condolences to AICC General Secretary K.C. Venugopal, whose mother died due to Covid, and also visited Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu.
With a spike in Covid cases across the country, Modi will hold a meeting on November 24 at 10.30 am with the Chief Ministers of Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Kerala.
On PM’s interaction, Baghel said: “Already we had been denied the GST due to the state and the package sought to tackle the Covid-19.”
He added that earlier Central assistance in the form of testing and PPE kits were received. Now, the state is making its own arrangement. This issue will be raised.
The discussion will be on the Covid vaccine. The issue had been raised before the Union Health Minister. The demand will be again raised during the meeting to ensure early delivery of the vaccine to Chhattisgarh, he added.
On the release of the fourth instalment of paddy procurement, Baghel said before March the instalment will be in the bank account of the farmers.
Already, three instalments have been released on May 21, August 20 and November 1. Before the end of financial year, the fourth instalment will be cleared, he said.
The crime situation in the state is under control, he said. Earlier Naxalites used to attack security camps, now the situation has reversed.