09.30 AM: Met with Gram (village), Janpad (block) and Zila (district) Panchayat leaders and officers during a meeting held to review the progress made on rural developmental projects in Alirajpur. The District Magistrate (DM) expressed her displeasure with the slow pace of developmental work undertaken even after the upliftment of the COVID-19 lockdown and ordered officers to expedite completion of long overdue projects under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (Rural Road Development Mission) and Rural Watershed Mission.
11.30 AM: Attended a meeting of the Revenue Case Management System (an online information platform for land revenue disputes); Tehsildars (revenue officers) informed the DM about a lag in uploading copies of orders of resolved revenue cases on the government’s web portal due to a data overload during COVID-19. The Collector ordered the National Informatics Center Officer to resolve these technical glitches at a priority-basis.
02.15 PM: Evaluated the district jail’s COVID-19 preparedness and response plan in light of a minor COVID-19 outbreak; DM discussed measures with the Jail’s Superintendent and Medical Officers to limit any further spread of COVID-19 in the prison.
05.00 PM: Visited Khattali tribal village to surveil the COVID-19 precautions undertaken by the village administration and to track the progress of projects under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (National Housing Mission).
09.00 AM: Attended a meeting chaired by the DM on the district’s land revenue collection; understood India’s land revenue system and analyzed legal disputes in land inheritance, demarcation (metering), division and auction.
10.45 AM: Meeting with the Police Department to review the district’s law and order situation and to asses security arrangements ahead of the upcoming festival season. In view of COVID-19, the DM asked police officers to ensure that people follow adequate safety precautions during festivities. Owing to an alarming rise in property offences in the district, the DM also asked the Superintendent of Police to formulate a consolidated action plan to tackle this surge.
12.30 PM: Followed up with Chief Executive Officer, Zila Panchayat and Chief Executive Officers of Janpad Panhcayats on the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyan (National Rural Public Works Mission) – a scheme providing 125 days of guaranteed paid work to migrant laborers in their home villages during the ongoing pandemic.
02.30 PM: Attended a Video Conference chaired by the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh reviewing COVID-19 management across the 52 districts of the state.
05.00 PM: Lok Seva (Public Service) eDistrict Platform Meeting; assessed the performance of Lok Seva Kendras (Public Service Centers) in the provision of and redressal for notified and non-notified services such as online delivery of birth, income, and domicile certificates and voter registries.
09.30 AM: Visited the District Hospital along with Bhabra, Jobat, Katthiwada and Sondwa blocks for an assessment of the COVID-19 situation on the ground, and a review of safety measures undertaken.
12.30 AM: Attended a meeting of the District Crisis Management Committee discussing measures to mitigate the district’s rising COVID-19 caseload and to discuss the possibility of reopening the weekly “haat” (village market).
01.45 PM: DM briefed the press and media on the decisions made by the members of the Crisis Management Committee to limit the spread of COVID in the district.
03.15 PM: Met the Deputy Director of the Department of Farmer Welfare and Agricultural Development to monitor Alirajpur’s gross cropped area, net sown area and net irrigated area and discuss issues being faced by farmers with the district witnessing a particularly dry season this year. Farmers’ unions and other interest groups voiced their concerns to the DM over difficulties in fertilizer procurement caused by the sudden COVID-induced lockdown and problems in irrigation with the drought-like season drying up groundwater and bore-wells. DM demanded an update from the department officers regarding a proposed integrated irrigation canal network project.
05.00 PM: Interacted with local tribal leaders and Tribal Welfare department officials to discuss various government schemes and polices developed for the benefit of the scheduled tribes in Alirajpur; appreciated the significance of government-funded scholarship programs and hostels for the tribal youth, encouraging first-generation high school and university students to pursue higher education.
10.00 AM: Attended a meeting with the Health Department on COVID-19 preparedness; discussed the availability of doctors, COVID-19 protocols in primary and community health centers, demarcation of containment zones, efficacy of fever clinics, availability of test kits, testing capacity, and PPE requirements. Recently, some nurses and doctors had threatened to go on a strike because they were not paid for their work for over 3 months. Therefore, the District Magistrate ordered the Chief Medical Officer to ensure that pending salaries of medical personnel is immediately released, and their grievances respectfully addressed.
12.30 PM: Attended a video conference where the Chief Minister interacted with street vendors from districts across the state to discuss the recently launched Atmanirbhar Bharat Yojana (Self-Reliant India Scheme aimed at curbing the country’s over-dependence on imports and promoting the domestic market).
03.15 PM: Chatted with local education officers to discuss the Education Department’s efforts in increasing enrolment in online classes; DM instructed the District Education Officer and Block Education Officers to help schools adapt to online teaching methods by building on tech infrastructure, and also urged Principals of local school to make use of the recently launched Madhya Pradesh Education Portal where digital copies of coursebooks have been made available by the state government.
05.30 PM: Tracked the progress made by the State Electricity Board in the electrification of villages. DM instructed board officials to ensure that beneficiaries of the Kapil Dhara Yojna (an irrigation scheme) are provided with a direct electricity connection on their farms to power machines for irrigation. She further ordered them to ensure that power-cuts and voltage fluctuations are reduced in the district to allow for people, especially students, to work online with a stable power connection.
09.30 AM: Attended the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) Monthly Review Meeting; recommended the NRLM Nodal Officer to provide packaging and marketing assistance to local producers and vendors of Sugar-Apple – the flagship cash crop of Alirajpur. DM instructed the nodal officer to restart Rasoi Kendras (government-sponsored centers at bus stands serving heavily subsidized meals for daily wage laborers at a rate of Rs. 5 ($0.068)).
11.15 AM: Met with bank representatives in a meeting held to supervise timely disbursement of government allowances into the accounts of the beneficiaries and quick provision of interest-free loans to restart the district’s economic activity post the upliftment of the lockdown.
01.30 PM: Attended a COVID-19 management review meeting (online) chaired by the Chief Secretary of the state.
03.15 PM: Went to assess the water situation at the local dam near the village of Umrali; also visited nearby farms for a monthly randomized crop inspection.
05.30 PM: Attended a meeting to review the work of the Forest Department. DM was briefed on the afforestation and reforestation campaigns launched by the department and changes in Alirajpur’s forest cover. Learnt about the collection of forest produce, cases of illicit sand mining and illegal logging and trafficking of teakwood in the district.
10.30 AM: Interacted with the District Supply Officer, Assistant Supply Officers, Chief Executive Officers of Janpad (Block) Panchayats and Chief Municipality Officers in a meeting chaired by the DM to administer essential civil supplies in the district through the Public Distribution System (PDS); leant about the management and operation of Alirjapur’s 173 fair price shops and the district’s management of warehouses and logistics to maintain a constant food supply during crises. The DM ordered PDS officers to ensure that fair price shop operators do not divert supplies to the black market and to expedite the process of uploading details of beneficiaries on the government’s Ration Mitra food security portal.
12:30 PM: Reviewed the Mukhya Mantri Annapurna Yojna (state government’s food security welfare scheme) which had till date only benefitted 76% of eligible beneficiaries; also assessed the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojna (world’s largest food security welfare program, announced in light of COVID-19) providing 5 kgs of wheat or rice and 1 kg of legumes/pulses to the poor. DM ordered PDS officials to maximize the number of beneficiaries covered under these food security schemes.
03.00 PM: Attended a meeting with officials of the Department of Women and Child Development to review measures taken during COVID-19 and check in on the progress made on construction of Anganwadis (daycare centers) under the Integrated Child Development Scheme; the DM instructed the officials to include Anganwadi workers in the state government’s Yoddha Kalyan Yojna (special COVID health insurance scheme) since they had also been working as frontline workers in the pandemic, delivering nutritious food for children and women door-to-door.
04.30 PM: Attended the weekly COVID-19 management review meeting held to assess the district’s weekly COVID tally and the performance of the administration in controlling the spread of the virus.