West Bengal Governor Jagdeep
Dhankhar on Monday urged the state government to pay heed to
the Centre’s warnings against “gradual dilution” of lockdown,
and said officials should be held accountable for their
lapses, if any.
The Ministry of Home Affairs had last week flagged
concerns over “gradual dilution” of the shutdown order in West
Bengal, and asked the state to take necessary action to ensure
strict adherence of social distancing norms, following reports
of alleged violation in Murshidabad and Siliguri.
Taking to twitter, Dhankhar, who had earlier expressed
dissatisfaction over the fact that the “government was not
keeping him in loop about measures being taken to tackle
COVID-19”, said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee should “end
lockdown” with Raj Bhawan.
“Urge @MamataOfficial to end Lockdown with Raj Bhawan.
We are in combat mode #CoronaPandemic and must act in
togetherness in State interest. MHA warnings must lead to
correctional approach. Officials be held accountable for
lapses #SocialDistancing and religious congregations,” he
posted on his Twitter handle.
In another tweet, he asked the state government to
shun politics and take MHA warnings seriously.
“Lockdown extension calls for greater vigilance. All
must give 100% in fight #CoronaPandemic. Home Ministry warning
be taken @MamataOfficial seriously-politics kept away,” the
governor said.
Amid the coronavirus-induced lockdown, a war of words
had broken out between the Centre and the TMC government in
West Bengal, with the Union Home Ministry objecting to
religious gatherings and sale of non-essential items in parts
of the state, and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee hitting back
with the assertion that the country was not fighting any
“communal virus” but a disease.
The state government had on Saturday announced that
the lockdown would be extended till April 30, and all
educational institutes would remain closed till June 10.
