Centre reconstitutes empowered groups for COVID management
The Centre on Saturday reconstituted the six empowered groups into ten in order to tackle the current COVID-19 situation in the country. The Centre formed panels of Emergency Management Plan and Strategy, Emergency Response Capabilities, Augmenting Human Resources and Capacity Building, Oxygen, Vaccination, Testing, Partnerships, Information Communication and Public Engagement, Economic and Welfare Measures, and Pandemic Response and Coordination.
Dr VK Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog, will be the convener for the empowered group for Emergency Management Plan and Strategy panel, which will have 10 other members.
While Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary, Department of Health and Family Welfare will be the convener of the Emergency and Response Capabilities panel which will also have ten other members, Apurva Chandra, Secretary, Labour and Employment, will be the convener of Augmenting Human Resources and Capacity panel which will have nine other members.
Also, Giridhar Aramane, Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, will be the convener of the 11-membered medical oxygen panel, and Dr VK Paul will be the convener of the vaccination panel which will also have 10 other members.
The convenor of the empowered group for the Pandemic Response and Coordination panel will be the Union Home Secretary and it will have 11 other members.
The convenor for the empowered group for the testing panel will be the Director-General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Balram Bhargava, and it will have eight other members.
The convenor of the empowered group for partnerships with the private sector, NGOs, and others will be NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, and it will have nine other members.
(With ANI inputs)
