The UT administration has done well to advance a months pension, and wages for its daily-wage workers. Providing ration for April and May to all ration card holders as well as mid day meals must be acknowledged. These proactive steps will mitigate the inconvenience that the Corona lockdown will cause. The same approach must inform other decisions of the government in these exceptional times. Sadly, the Finance Department is stuck in the established routine. With the budget for 2020-21 having been approved, the Finance Department has authorized 50 percent funds under revenue component as it always does. More than this is needed right now. Rather than seeking to release the Capex Budget based on proposals of Administrative Secretaries as is the practice, the least they could have done well to release money for the health department as an exception. This would not only help the health department meet its challenges in a speedier manner, it would also act as a morale booster to the medical fraternity who are risking their lives for the people. It would also signal that the government is responding to the prevailing situation on the ground rather than sticking to a bureaucratic procedure. Exceptional situations need out of the box solutions. Right now the focus ought to be on ensuring that cash doesn’t become a constraint in saving previous lives. The money managers of the state need to realise the gravity of the situation and should in fact increase the financial powers of those running the hospitals till this pandemic lasts.
