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ies, villages and at state booths, who will be testing the oxygen levels: Arvind Kejriwal We need ?Oxi Mitras? in every village and at state booths who will take the responsibility of setting up Oxygen Testing Centres: Arvind Kejriwal District in-charges or the constituency in-charges will personally have to visit every village and talk to the people: Arvind Kejriwal State president to draft a plan for their respective states by day after tomorrow: Arvind Kejriwal NEW DELHI: AAP National Convenor Shri Arvind Kejriwal on Monday held a video conferencing meet with the state convenors of the Aam Aadmi Party, to discuss the setting up of Oxygen Testing Centres in maximum villages across various states to help Covid-19 patients in saving maximum lives in other parts of the country. He also said that we need ?Oxi Mitras? in every village and at state booths who will take the responsibility of setting up Oxygen Testing Centres. Senior AAP leader Mr. Gopal Rai was also present in the meeting. Addressing the AAP state presidents in the meeting, Shri Arvind Kejriwal said, ?I would have personally met you all, had it not been for COVID. This meeting has been called to discuss a very specific and crucial issue. The Corona pandemic has spread across the country and in entire world. People are struggling in the time of the pandemic. Fortunately, with the efforts of the people of Delhi, we have been able to control the situation of Corona in Delhi to a great extent. From our experiences of dealing with the pandemic in the last few days, we have observed that the biggest challenge is the falling oxygen levels in the Corona patients. Due to falling oxygen levels, many patients lose their lives. Timely detection of the lowering oxygen levels and provision of help can save the lives of the patients. I believe that we are a political party and our biggest religion is to work for the country and its people. When the country is fighting its toughest battle with Corona, it is our duty to go to the people and serve them during the pandemic, keeping all the politics aside.? Chief Minister Shri Arvind Kejriwal said, ?In my address on 15th August, I had announced that the volunteers of the Aam Aadmi Party will open Oxygen Testing Centres in all the villages across the country. We will assign one person in each area or village with the duty of checking the oxygen levels of the citizens residing in those areas. These volunteers will also put up a board of Oxygen Testing Centres on their houses, for people to come and check their oxygen levels. They will also distribute pamphlets to the people. If a person is suffering from the symptoms of Corona such as cough, cold, and breathlessness, they must go to the government COVID testing centres to get themselves tested for Corona. But in some states, testing results take time. In such cases, their oxygen levels must be measured so that if their oxygen levels are lower than 95, they should be immediately transferred to hospitals. In this way, we will be able to save more and more lives.? CM Arvind Kejriwal said that there is a whole process of setting up these centres and providing oximeters. But, this will also help setting up an Aam Aadmi Party organization in various regions of the country. If this activity happens in every village and region of the country, it will help AAP to send out a powerful message that there is a party, that is ready to help people whenever needed and we will be able to establish a strong organization in every region of the country. ?Mr. Ankush Narang will coordinate for the provision of oximeters across the country on behalf of my office,? he said. CM Arvind Kejriwal announced that in every village an Oxi Mitra will be also be appointed for setting up of Oxygen Testing Centtes. He said, ?In every village, we will appoint an ?Oxi Mitra?, who will be responsible for setting up Oxygen Testing Centres in the villages. It will be easier to set up the oxygen testing centres in villages where Aam Aadmi Party volunteers are working in those areas. But, the district in-charges or the constituency in-charges will personally have to visit every village and talk to the people. We need ?Oxi Mitras? in every village and at state booths who will take the responsibility of setting up Oxygen Testing Centres. The person responsible will put up a board on his/her house which will read ?Aam Aadmi Party ? Oxygen Testing Centre?.? ?The ?Oxi Mitra? will create a team of volunteers with themselves, and visit the people residing in the villages. They will carry hand sanitizers, wear masks, AAP cap, and they will talk to every person in the village and say, ?We are from AAP. There is a pandemic going on. People are losing their lives because of Corona. We will be testing your oxygen levels to ensure your good health. If you permit, we would like to come inside your home?. We have tried this experiment several times before and people supported the move,? he added. CM Arvind Kejriwal said, ?When you go inside their homes, talk to them about the efforts of the Delhi government in controlling the Corona pandemic in the national capital. Explain to them how oximeters have been useful in the treatment of the patients and convince them to get their oxygen levels checked for their safety. While starting the testing procedure, please sanitize their hands first. After sanitizing, test their oxygen levels through the oximeter and sanitize their hands again. If their oxygen levels fall below 95, tell them to immediately visit the hospitals. Arrange help such as ambulances and transport them to the nearest hospital. You must keep the information of the nearest hospital or the nearest ambulances with you. Please keep a register with you and note down the numbers of the family members. Inform them that you are creating a WhatsApp group for all Corona related information for the people residing in that booth or village so that more and more people are aware of Corona. If people are in an emergency, they can come up to your house to get their oxygen levels checked.? ?We do not have to set up camps with tables and chairs, because gatherings are banned in most of the states. We will require police permissions for that and not everyone will be covered in the process. We have to visit each and every home and conduct a door-to-door survey. I want to request you all to draft a plan for your respective states by day after tomorrow. The plan should have a timeline of how many villages you will be able to cover in how many days, and how many villages will be covered after a particular number of days are over. We have to cover maximum villages and booths. You have to prepare teams in villages where there are no AAP volunteers,? added the CM. Reiterating that the volunteers of AAP should serve the nation during this pandemic, CM Arvind Kejriwal said, ?This is the time that being the citizen of the country, it is our duty to help and serve the people during this pandemic and save more and more lives. I am hopeful that all AAP volunteers will successfully carry out this initiative with all their strength and determination. I had requested the pepple two days back to donate oximeters and people have participated in the process with enthusiasm and donated many oximeters. I hope that our volunteers will reach more and more people with the help of the people and save more and more lives.?

ceiving the old age, disability and widows pensions provided by the Delhi government. The Department will remit at old rates, all pensions stopped due to lack of Aadhaar. Further, enhanced pension will be remitted with effect from April 2018, to all beneficiaries who are getting pension on old rates so that beneficiaries are not penalized for system related reasons. The Department is responsible implementing Old Age Assistance, commonly known as Old Age Pension for senior citizens of Delhi. This assistance is available to all senior citizens who are residents of Delhi for at least five years and having family income of Rs. 1,00,000/- or less per annum. Currently, the quantum of assistance is Rs. 2,000/- per month to beneficiaries between 60-69 year and Rs. 2500/- per month to beneficiaries 70 years and above. However, an additional Rs. 500/- per month is given to beneficiaries between 60-69 years belonging to SC/ST/minority categories. Department has remitted assistance to 4.18 lakh beneficiaries for April-2018. The Department is also implementing financial Assistance Scheme for Persons with Special Needs, commonly known as Disability Pension. As per current scheme norms, this assistance is available to all persons with disability between 0-60 years who are residents of Delhi for at least five years and having family income of Rs. 1,00,000/- or less per annum. Currently, the quantum of assistance is Rs. 2500/- per month. Department has remitted assistance to 77,542 beneficiaries for April-May 2018. While it was decided by the Cabinet in 2016 not to insist upon Aadhaar for remittance of pension, the enhanced pension was mandated to be given only to Aadhaar seeded accounts. Therefore, a total of 33,191 Old Age Pension beneficiaries and 9,799 Disability Pension beneficiaries are unable to take benefit of enhanced pension for no fault of theirs, merely because of systemic issues of the banks and /or Department. Section 7 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016 clearly stipulates that in no case beneficiary be denied benefit for want of Aadhaar or failure of Aadhaar authentication. It further stipulates that such individuals should be offered alternate and viable mean of identification and Departments using Aadhaar as identifier for delivery of service/ benefits to necessarily have and exception handling mechanism. The Department has received another circular from UIDAI that beneficiaries are not to be denied the benefit, subsidy or service due to not having Aadhaar, failure of authentication or any other extraneous circumstances. UIDAI has further suggested following exception handling mechanism to ensure seamless delivery of subsidy, benefit or service to the beneficiary- a. Till the time Aadhaar is assigned to a beneficiary, he/she shall be provided subsidy, benefit or service based on alternate identification document as notified by the Department.? b. In case of failure of Biometric authentication due to network/connectivity issue or due to poor biometric of resident etc., he/she shall be provided subsidy, benefit or service based on possession of Aadhaar by him/her as provided in Section 7 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016 and the notification.? c. The State Governments/implementing Agency should also make special arrangements for bed ridden senior residents to get them verified/authenticated including but not limited to sending a village level worker to their home for this purpose.? Given the above situation, it has decided to remit all pensions stopped due to lack of Aadhaar.