District magistrate Imphal West Th Kirankumar has announced that 19 task forces have been constituted after due consultation with concerned stakeholders on a pilot basis for cooperation with various civil bodies and NGOs and increase in their participation in the fight against COVID-19.
The unabated increase in the number of COVID-19 infections and active cases in the district and the state has necessitated the constitution of such task forces with active and increased participation of the people and its representatives, stated an order issued by the district magistrate Imphal West on Sunday.
The home department, government of Manipur on May 18 directed to constitute Village/Ward/Gram Sabha Level task force, it stated.
A Village/Ward/Gram Sabha (Whichever applicable) Level Task Force will be constituted with 6-10 members, it mentioned. Villages in the remote areas with less than 150 houses should be clubbed together to form a Joint Task Force of above 200 households, it stated.
The selection of the members and constitution of the task force will be notified by the deputy commissioner concerned after due consultation with the MLA of the constituency reputed CVO/NGO active in the area and the local club(s).
A task force would be provided with PPE kit, sanitisers, masks etc. by the Health department through the deputy commissioners/ chief medical officers, the order mentioned.
Each task force will be provided mobility support at the rate of Rs 1,000 per day, it stated adding (modalities shall be further worked out with the respective task force for the first week of working).
Claims for the above amount are to be made through the deputy commissioner which will be sanctioned by the stated Relief and Disaster Management department, it stated.
The committee shall have a clear cut distinctive jurisdictional boundary of operation such as ensuring that Covid Appropriate Behaviour is followed by everyone, including whenever shops or vegetable vendors are allowed to open.
It will work to ensure that persons in Horne Isolation or Quarantine or in Micro Containment areas do not come out of their houses, it stated.
It will assist the government medical team in contact tracing and monitoring the health of those in Home Isolation, and assist in testing of the close contacts and suspected persons of COVID-19 cases in the area, it stated.
It will carry out IEC activities on various Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and protocols adopted by the government and persuade the locals to adopt and abide by it.
It will assist the government medical team in vaccination of all the persons within the jurisdiction of the task force.
It will also assist the government medical team in transportation of the COVID-19 patients to Covid care centre, Community Home Isolation Centre and Hospitals.
Under their essential items and duties, the order mentioned that movement and travel of persons on essential duties should be allowed while following Covid Appropriate Behaviour, especially wearing of masks.
The performances of each task force are to be monitored on daily basis through data collected on number of families, status of COVID-19 testing, number of COVID-19 positive cases, Home Isolation cases, number of patients in CHIC/CCC/Hospitals, number of deaths, vaccination status and IEC activities, the order stated.
Separate monitoring template shall be circulated through the SDOs/BDOs concerned for regular monitoring of performance, it added.
