Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Government has given District Collectors the authority to deploy officials from any department at the district level for activities to fight COVID-19, in a move that can ensure adequate staff for the COVID-19 First-Line Treatment Centres (CFLTCs).

The district administration can implement Section 33 of the Disaster Management Act requiring any official or department to work for the prevention of the disease, to address any shortage of employees or vehicles at the centres.

The state government has decided to open CFLTCs with at least 100 beds in each panchayat. But there are concerns that there may not be adequate staff available to operate these centres. According to an estimates, over 8,000 doctors will be needed for these temporary facilities, besides a large number of nurses and ambulance vehicles.

Officers and vehicles on the election duty list can be fully utilised to fight COVID, the government said.

Dr A Jayatilak, principal secretary, state department of disaster management and state relief commissioner, in a directive to the collectors, said that that officials can be requisitioned any time and the departments concerned must make available the officials.

Any violation of the directive will result in disciplinary action under Section 51 (b) of the Disaster Management Act and is punishable with a fine or imprisonment of up to a year or both.

The Disaster Management Act rule has been brought into force after local body secretaries could not find any cooperation for their demand for employees from the educational and agriculture institutions under local bodies.

Although Collectors have the authority to demand personnel and vehicles from any department during emergencies, they rarely exercise it, necessitating the current order from the state government.

Minister wants relaxation for agriculture officials

Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister V S Sunil Kumar has written to Local Government Minister A C Moideen asking him to refrain from deploying agriculture officers in the COVID First-Line Treatment Centres.

Appointing agriculture officers for COVID activities will affect the 'Subhiksha Kerala' project, he pointed out.