Delhi govt to recommend doctors, healthcare workers for Padma awards
The Delhi government has decided to recommend for the Padma awards this year names of doctors and health workers who fought against coronavirus and saved lives during the pandemic, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Tuesday. The chief minister also asked Delhiites to recommend names of doctors and health workers whose work deserves to be recognised. People can send in their recommendations to padmaawards.delhi@gmail.com by August 15, he said.
Kejriwal said a search and screening committee headed by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia will take the final call on these recommendations.
"We want the doctors and health workers to be felicitated with the Padma awards this year in recognition of their work and as a gesture of gratitude towards them," the CM said.
Many doctors and health workers contracted COVID-19 and lost their lives while saving people from the virus. The whole country and humanity are indebted to them, he said.
The Padma awards are given for distinguished and exceptional achievements or service in all fields or disciplines, such as Art, Literature and Education, Sports, Medicine, Social Work, Science and Engineering, Public Affairs, Civil Service, Trade and Industry, etc.
All persons without the distinction of race, occupation, position, or sex are eligible for these awards.
Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha was on Tuesday informed a total of 921 doctors and healthcare workers have been paid insurance claim of Rs 50 lakh each till July 15, under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP) scheme for Covid warriors.
In response to a question on the number of doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers who have succumbed to COVID-19 since 2020, Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar said the Ministry of Health does not maintain occupation-wise data on Covid cases and deaths.
However, life insurance benefits are being provided under the 'Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP): Insurance Scheme for Health Workers Fighting COVID-19', the minister said.
Earlier on Friday, Kejriwal had said the Delhi government will review the experience of other states where schools are reopening and then take a decision on schools in the national capital.
The chief minister, however, reiterated the Delhi government's stand that the ideal situation for reopening schools would be after vaccination is complete.
"The ideal situation would be to open schools after vaccination. We will see for some days the experiences of other states where schools are opening and then decide. Parents are still worried about their child's safety," he told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Timarpur.
COVID-19 situation in Delhi
Delhi recorded 39 fresh COVID-19 cases and one more death on Monday while the positivity rate stood at 0.07 per cent, according to data shared by the health department. With the new cases, the city's infection tally climbed to 14,35,949. Of these, over 14.10 lakh patients have recovered from the disease, the health department bulletin stated. The death toll stands at 25,044, it said.
On Sunday, Delhi had recorded 66 COVID-19 cases with a positivity rate of 0.09 per cent and two deaths due to the disease.
Currently, there are 537 active cases in Delhi and 162 of them are under home isolation. The number of containment zones in the city stands at 305, the bulletin said.
It said 56,435 tests, including 45,423 RT-PCR tests, were conducted the previous day.
