Image Source: TRIBUNE

These are unusually busy days at the office of Skill Development Mission, Punjab in the Sector 17 market here. Inside the office, a “war room” set up by the government to monitor Covid-19 pandemic, at least four officers and experts from food and supplies and health are on the phone, either taking notes or shooting orders as they get desperate messages from all over the state. With 41 confirmed cases and the threat of the pandemic entering the third stage of community spread looming large, these officers are busy compiling reports. Rahul Tiwari, head of the control room, and other officials spend days in the war room in analysing data collected from all over the state, passing it to the Union Government and also conveying the directions from the Centre to all district administrations. Ravi Bhagat, managing director of Punjab Mandi Board, monitors the COVA app for all updates. Tiwari said, “As if the situation was not grim already, now we are dealing with the exodus of migrants. Directions have been issued to all DCs to keep the migrants in their respective districts and provide them immediate relief. We just cannot afford to have so many people together out on the roads.”