Odisha CM seeks national SOP to reboot economy

Bhubaneswar, May 11 (IANS) Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday sought a national Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to reboot economic activities in the country."To reboot the economic activities, the Union Government may come up with a National Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). Our production lines are interlinked so also our value addition process cutting across state boundaries. A national SOP will guide in a unified response in rebooting economy," he said.Participating in the video conferencing of Chief Ministers with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Patnaik said the Union government may modify the existing schemes to incentivise and actively involved Panchayati Raj institutions in Covid management."As the fight is going to be long, it is important that we involve Panchayats for a system based response," he added. The Chief Minister also said that railway movements may be regulated in consultation with states as being done for stranded persons.As regards to lockdown and other regulations, Patnaik said there should be a broad principle at national level and allow decentralized implementation by local administration."A smaller, scientific unit can replace district as unit for zoning, and we should allow local administration to decide this area," he added.The state's Covid-19 tally has increased to 414 with 37 fresh cases on Monday.
--IANS cd/vd