On April 24, 2020, With lockdown violations in several districts of the country posing a serious threat to the lives of common people, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has constituted 5 new Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCTs) to review the grave situation arising out of Coronavirus (COVID-19), taking the total of such teams to 11.
- Of the 5 teams, two are for Gujarat (Ahmedabad and Surat ) and one each for Telangana (Hyderabad), Tamil Nadu (Chennai ) and Maharashtra (Thane).
Key Points:
i.Terms of Reference of the team: The ICMTs teams, headed by officers at the level of Additional Secretary, will work on issues including compliance & implementation of lockdown measures as per guidelines issued under the Disaster Management Act 2005, the supply of essential commodities, social distancing, the preparedness of the health infrastructure, the safety of health professionals, and conditions of relief camps for labor and poor people.
ii.Earlier, the Union Home Ministry had sent six teams, 2 each for West Bengal, Maharashtra and 1 each for Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan to review the implementation of the lockdown measures.
National Disaster Management Authority officials and health-related experts are included in these teams.
iii.The team has been formed under Section 35(1), 35(2)(a), 35(2)(e) and 35(2)(i) of the Disaster Management Act 2005.
About Ministry of Home Affairs:
Headquarters– New Delhi
Union Minister– Amit Shah
Home secretary– Ajay Kumar Bhalla
