Odisha Government’s Response to COVID-19
Distilled Policy Brief
- The Odisha government declared COVID-19 as a State disaster on March 13, subsequently issuing The Odisha COVID-19 Regulations, 2020 on March 18 to mandate dedicated isolation facilities in both government and private hospitals.
- To strengthen legislative and financial capacity, the state promulgated the Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 on April 7 to increase penalties, and the Odisha Contingency Fund (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 on April 9 to raise the fund's corpus from 400 crores to 2000 crores.
- Welfare and administrative measures included ordering the use of closed schools and hostels as temporary shelters for migrants on March 28, providing fifty lakh rupees compensation to families of deceased employees not covered by central insurance, and prohibiting strikes in essential services like water supply on March 21.
🎯 Prelims High-Yield Examination Points
Provisions of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, and the constitutional basis of the Contingency Fund of a State under Article 267(2).
⚖️ Mains Analytical & Syllabus Linkages
Analyze the role of state governments as first responders during national disasters and the constitutional mechanisms available for rapid legislative and financial mobilization.
🎯 UPSC Prelims Practice Drill
With reference to the measures taken by the Government of Odisha in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, consider the following statements: 1. The state government declared COVID-19 as a State disaster and issued The Odisha COVID-19 Regulations, 2020, mandating dedicated isolation facilities in both government and private hospitals. 2. The Odisha Contingency Fund (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 was promulgated to raise the corpus of the contingency fund from 400 crores to 2000 crores. 3. The government prohibited strikes by employees engaged in essential services such as water supply and sanitation for a period of one year. Which of the statements given above are correct?
- [A] 1 and 2 only
- [B] 2 and 3 only
- [C] 1 and 3 only
- [D] 1, 2 and 3
▶ Reveal Official Answer & Analytical Explanation
Statement 1 is correct: The Odisha government declared COVID-19 as a State disaster on March 13 and issued The Odisha COVID-19 Regulations, 2020 on March 18, mandating dedicated isolation facilities in government and private hospitals. Statement 2 is correct: The Odisha Contingency Fund (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 was promulgated to raise the fund's corpus from 400 crores to 2000 crores. Statement 3 is incorrect because the order prohibiting strikes by employees engaged in the supply of drinking water and sanitation in urban local bodies was issued for a period of six months, not one year.
🏛️ Historical Twin PYQ Anchor (2021)
Consider the following statements regarding the "National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)": 1. It is implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. 2. Central Pollution Control Board acts as the sole regulatory executive body.