KOCHI:
Chief Secretary Dr. V.P. Joy said that the only way to save the country and the people from the Covid-19 epidemic is multi-level prevention. He said the lockdown was the main means of defense. V.P Joy was speaking at an interactive session with commerce and industry representatives organized by FICCI Kerala State Council. He said he was seriously considering increasing private participation in vaccination and could consider increasing quotas in private hospitals. The Chief Secretary said that there was only a problem of non-availability of vaccine and the government was ready to facilitate the distribution of the vaccine if it was available.
The triple lockdown in the four districts would not continue indefinitely and hoped that the restrictions would be eased as soon as possible, Dr. Joy said. Matters, including the moratorium, can only be decided with the consent of the central government. The crisis in the fisheries and export sectors will be resolved immediately. It has been suggested to facilitate the movement of goods. The chief secretary said the government was trying to bring normalcy to the people as soon as possible.
FICCI Kerala State Council Co-Chair Dr. M.I. Sahadullah welcomed the gathering and Savio Mathew, Head, Kerala State Council proposed the vote of thanks. FICCI Kerala State Council Co-Chair Deepak L Aswani delivered the introductory speech.
Credai Kerala Managing Director M.A Mehboob, Kerala State Small Industries Association (KSSIA) State President M Khalid, Kalyan Silks Chairman & MD T.K Pattabhiraman, Alex K Nainan, President, Seafood Exporters’ Association of India Bismi Group Chairman V.A. Yousuf, Western India Plywoods Ltd. Managing Director P.K. Mayan, S.N Raghuchandran Nair, President, Trivandrum Chamber of Commerce and Industry; U.C Riyaz, Vice President, Kerala Travel Mart Society represented various commercial and industrial sectors in the discussion.
