States and State LegislaturesOdisha Government’s Response to COVID-19Akhil N.R.- April 29, 2020As of April 28, Odisha has 118 cases of COVID-19.  Of these, 37 have been cured, and 1 person has died.  In this blog, we summarise some of the key decisions taken by the Government of Odisha until April 28 for containing the spread of COVID-19 in the state.Before the lockdownOn March 24, the state government enforced state-wide lockdown.  Before enforcing it, the state government took several measures for preventing the spread of COVID-19 besides declaring it as aState disasteron March 13.   Some of the key measures are summarised below.Health MeasuresThe Odisha COVID-19 Regulations, 2020:On March 18, the GovernmentissuedThe Odisha COVID-19 Regulations, 2020.  These regulations are valid for a year.  As per these regulations, both government and private hospitals must have dedicated COVID-19 isolation facilities.Foreign returnees: On March 16, the Governmentissuedan order for foreign returnees to: (i) mandatorily register on COVID portal within 24 hours of their arrival (ii) home quarantine themselves for 14 days.  An incentive of 15,000 rupees will be provided for registration and completing home quarantine.Prisons:On March 17, the Government releasedprecautionary measuresto be taken in prisons by authorities and inmates.  Newly admitted prisoners should be quarantined in different wards for a week. From March 18,e-Mulakatwas allowed in District headquarters jails.Private Health Care Facilities:On March 19, the Department of Health and Family Welfare issuedguidelines for Private Health Care Facilities.  The guidelines specify the hospitals to have a COVID-19 specific counter with separate entrance, regulating the entry of visitors, and infection control measures.Media:On March 21, the Department of Health and Family Welfareissuedguidelinesto the media not to publish any information or interview the infected persons, their relatives, doctors and support medical staff of them.Increasing the health workforce in the state:The Department of Health and Family Welfare issued an order on March 23 for the engagement of Staff Nurses and other Paramedics on ashort term basis.  The hired employees will be provided with additional incentives.Administrative MeasuresState crisis management committee:On March 4, a State crisis management committee wasformedto take policy decisions regarding cluster containment.Prohibiting strikes of employees:On March 21, the government issued anorderprohibiting any strikes by employees engaged in the supply of drinking water and sanitation in urban local bodies.  The order is valid for six months.Public and private establishments:On March 21, the governmentrequestedall public and private establishments not to terminate the employees or reduce their wages.Movement RestrictionsClosure of commercial establishments:On March 13, the Department of Health and Family Welfareorderedfor the closure of cinema halls, swimming pools, gyms and educational institutions except for holding examinations until March 31.Suspension of bus services:On March 23, the Department of Health and Family Welfare issued an ordersuspendingintra-state bus services from March 24 and City bus services in all urban local bodies from midnight of March 23.Lockdown in few districts:On March 21, the governmentannouncedlockdown in five revenue districts and eight towns of the state until March 29.  The lockdown involved (i) suspension of public transport services (ii) closure of all commercial establishments, offices, and factories (iii) banning the congregation of more than seven people at any public place.During the lockdownWith two cases in the state, on March 24, the governmentextendedthe lockdown to the entire state till March 29.  Establishments engaged in the supply of essential goods and services were excluded from this lockdown.This was followed by anation-wide lockdownenforced by the central government between March 25 and April 14, nowextended till May 3.   Before the extension announced by the central government, the state governmentextended the lockdownin the state till April 30.Starting from April 20, the central governmentallowedcertain activities in less-affected districts of the country.  Further, on April 24, the Ministry of Home Affairsallowedthe opening of certain categories of shops with a limited workforce.Welfare MeasuresThe Odisha government announced several welfare measures to address the difficulties being faced by people during the lockdown.  Key measures include:Temporary shelter for migrants:On March 28, the governmentorderedDistrict collectors and Municipal Commissioners to use closed down schools and hostel buildings as temporary shelters for the migrants.Provision of food in rural areas:On March 30, the governmentdecidedto provide hot cooked food for needy people in rural areas at affordable prices.  Two meals per day will be provided at Rs 60 for adults and Rs 45 for children per day.Compensation to family members:The Odisha government will be givingcompensationof fifty lakh rupees to the family members of the employees who may die due to COVID-19 and are not covered under insurance scheme of the central government.Administrative MeasuresOrdinances:As the State Assembly is not in session, the government promulgated two ordinances.The Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020: On April 7, the government promulgated an ordinance to deal with COVID-19 spread.  The Ordinance amends Section 2 and 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897.  The Act provides for the prevention of the spread of dangerous epidemic diseases.  The ordinance amends the act to increase the penalty for individuals committing the offences under the act.The Odisha Contingency Fund (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020: On April 9, the Odisha Government promulgated Odisha Contingency Fund (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020.  The ordinance increases the corpus of the contingency fund from 400 crores to 2000 crores.  Thecontingency fundis generally used for meeting any unforeseen expenditure.Setting up control rooms:On March 26, the Home department set up around the clock control roomfor monitoring the issues regarding the implementation of lockdown and stranded Odias in various parts of the country.  On March 27 and 28,three control roomswere set up in Bhubaneswar and Delhi for the migrant labourers.Deferment of salaries:The governmentannounced70% deferment of salaries of all the elected representatives of the state and 50% deferment for the employees of All India Services such as IAS and IPS.Implementation of MGNREGS:On March 31, the Department of Panchayati Raj and Drinking Waterissuedan advisory for the implementation of MGNREGS.  Key measures include: (i) Job cards will be provided to people interested in doing unskilled works, (ii) Individual works up to 5 persons is allowed (iii) Hand wash and safe drinking water should be provided at the worksites.Essential Goods and ServicesOn March 25, the governmentauthorisedcertain authorities to issue passes for the free movement of essential goods.For facilitating the movement of goods, the governmentallowedthe opening of roadside dhabas, and vehicle repair shops situated on Highways.  These should be located outside of towns and cities.Health MeasuresAmendments to Odisha COVID-19 regulations, 2020On April 3, the governmentaddedfollowing provisions to the Odisha COVID-19 regulations, 2020: (i) additional duties and responsibilities of hospitals and local bodies such as infection control measures in hospitals among others. (ii) state government or empowered officers can declare any government or private hospital as COVID hospital.On April 9, wearing masks were madecompulsoryfor the people stepping out their houses and were included in the regulations.On April 16, the government included the ‘prohibition of spitting in any form in public places’ into the regulations.Short term engagements:On March 27, the government invitedsenior professionalshaving expertise in various sectors such as health care management, international logistics, and charities to work as Honorary Advisors to Government on a voluntary basis.  The government issued an order forengagement of microbiologistson a short term basis.Training of MBBS students-On March 28, the governmentdecidedto train the MBBS students of all medical colleges studying 7th, 8th and 9th semesters and deploy them if there is a rise in the number of cases in future.  Training of government establishments was taken up in the first phase. Private colleges were also requested to train doctors and students simultaneously.Additional resources:On April 6, the State Executive Departmentauthorizedthe Principal Secretary, Department of Health to requisition the services of anybody having expertise in public health care management.  When the need arises, the government can use the services of healthcare professionals such as doctors, nursing staff from government or private organisations to assist the state government.Support to personnel fighting the Pandemic:On April 22, the governmentannouncedcertain measures to support the personnel fighting COVID-19 in the state. They areThe Government will invoke theNational Security Act, 1980against the individuals causing violence to any member of the medical community such as doctors, nurses, and health workers.While on duty, if any government employee dies due to COVID-19, the family will get the salary until the retirement date of the deceased employee.The cremation of the individuals dying due to COVID-19 on duty will be honoured by the state as usually accorded to the martyrs.Handling the return of migrants from other parts of the country:On April 19, the Revenue and Disaster Management department issued an advisory toGram PanchayatsandUrban Local Bodiesfor handling the influx of migrants from other parts of the country, once the lockdown is over.  The advisory has the following steps.(i) All local bodies should have registration facilities.  People returning from other states should register through their relatives or family members.(ii) All persons arriving from various states will be quarantined for 14 days.(iii) An incentive of 2,000 rupees will be provided to the people for completing the quarantine period in the quarantine facilities.For more information on the spread of COVID-19 and the central and state government response to the pandemic, please seehere.ParliamentFirst no-confidence motion of the 17th Lok Sabha discussed todayNiranjana Menon- August 8, 2023Discussion on the first no-confidence motion of the 17thLok Sabha began today.  No-confidence motions and confidence motions are trust votes, used to test or demonstrate the support of Lok Sabha for the government in power.  Article 75(3) of the Constitution states that the government is collectively responsible to Lok Sabha.  This means that the government must always enjoy the support of a majority of the members of Lok Sabha.  Trust votes are used to examine this support.  The government resigns if a majority of members support a no-confidence motion, or reject a confidence motion.So far, 28 no-confidence motions (including the one being discussed today) and 11 confidence motions have beendiscussed.  Over the years, the number of such motions has reduced.  The mid-1960s and mid-1970s saw more no-confidence motions, whereas the 1990s saw more confidence motions.Figure1: Trust votes in ParliamentNote: *Term shorter than 5 years; **6-year term.Source: Statistical Handbook 2021, Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs; PRS.The no-confidence motion being discussed today wasmovedon July 26, 2023.  A motion of no-confidence is moved with the support of at least 50 members.   The Speaker has the discretion to allot time for discussion of the motion.  TheRules of Procedurestate that the motion must be discussed within 10 days of being introduced.  This year, the no-confidence motion wasdiscussed13 calendar days after introduction.  Since the introduction of the no-confidence motion on July 26, 12 Bills have been introduced and 18 Bills have been passed by Lok Sabha.  In the past, on four occasions, the discussion on no-confidence motions began seven days after their introduction.  On these occasions, Bills and other important issues were debated before the discussion on the no-confidence motion began.Figure2: Members rise in support of the motion of no-confidence in Lok SabhaSource: Sansad TV, Lok Sabha, July 26, 2023; PRS.Figure3: Number of days from introduction to discussion on no-confidence motionsNote: Number of days implies calendar days.Source: Statistical Handbook 2021, Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs; PRS.On average, no-confidence motions (excluding the one being discussed today) have been discussed for 13 hours over three days.  Discussions have lasted longer than 20 hours on four instances, most recently in 2003.  Today’s no-confidence motion was allotted 12 hours discussion time by theBusiness Advisory Committee.Following the discussion, the motion is put to vote.  26 out of 27 no-confidence motions (excluding the one being discussed today) have been voted upon and rejected.  This means that no government has ever had to resign following a vote of no-confidence.   On one occasion, in 1979, the discussion on a no-confidence motion against the Morarji Desai government remained inconclusive.  He resigned before the motion was put to vote.  50% of all no-confidence motions (14 out of 28) were discussed between 1965 and 1975.  Of these, 12 were against governments headed by Indira Gandhi.Figure4: Duration of discussion on no-confidence motionsNote: This graph excludes the no confidence motion moved on July 26, 2023.Source: Statistical Handbook 2021, Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs; PRS.In comparison, confidence motions have a more varied history.  The first motion, brought in 1979 to demonstrate confidence in Charan Singh’s government, was not discussed at all.  The Prime Minister resigned before the discussion could take place.  Since then, 11 confidence motions have been discussed in Lok Sabha, with nine occurring in the 1990s.  During this period, several coalition governments were formed, and Prime Ministers sought to prove their majority throughconfidence motions.   These motions have been discussed, on average, for 12 hours over two days.Figure5: Duration of discussion of confidence motionsSource: Statistical Handbook 2021, Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs; PRS.Of the 11 confidence motions discussed in Lok Sabha, seven were accepted.  On three instances, governments had to resign as they could not prove that they had the support of the majority.  On one instance in 1996, the motion was not put to vote.  Following an eleven-hour discussion on this confidence motion, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee announced his intention to resign on the floor of the House.  He resigned 16 days into his term.Vajpayee became Prime Minister again in 1999, and faced another confidence motion.   This time, it was put to vote.   The motion was defeated by a margin of one vote.  This has been the closest result on a trust vote in the history of Lok Sabha.  The next closest result was when a motion of no-confidence against P V Narasimha Rao’s government was defeated by 14 votes in 1993.  In most cases, results have been in favour of the government by a large margin.«12345678910»
States and State LegislaturesOdisha Government’s Response to COVID-19Akhil N.R.- April 29, 2020