Chandigarh, July 25: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday slammed the Akalis for their attack on his government over the CM relief fund and accused them of indulging in petty politics at a time when people were dying.

In his weekly 'AskCaptain Facebook live edition, Singh said the Rs 64 crore lying in the CM Relief Fund was meant for COVID relief and would be spent on it. Also Read | BSF Jawan Posted in J&K's Kathua Hit by Bullet, Survives With Injuries, Says Report: Live News Breaking And Coronavirus Updates on July 25, 2020.

"Never in my political life have I seen such petty politics," the chief minister said, terming the SAD remarks as "shameful". "It is a question of life and death, and the future of Punjab," Singh said, stressing that there should be no politics on such a grave issue at a critical time like this. Also Read | Here's How to Identify & Stop Bully Friends Online.

The Akalis had accused the Congress-led government in Punjab of spending only Rs 2.28 crore despite Rs 64 crore in the CM relief fund. Pointing out that the disease had still not peaked, the CM said his government had already spent over Rs 300 crore on COVID care, treatment and other related expenses, and expected to spend another Rs 200 crore at the minimum.

The Rs 64 crore will be spent on COVID care, he said in a statement here. Even as he directed Director General of Police Dinkar Gupta to strictly enforce wearing of masks and other restrictions such as social distancing at religious places, the chief minister appealed to the management of religious institutions to ensure that all precautions are taken to avoid overcrowding.

In response to a question in this regard by a Gurdaspur resident, Singh said social distancing and masks were necessary even at religious places and people should tell others to follow the norms if they come across any violation.

The chief minister said his government had been forced to impose additional fines due to frequent violations and, if necessary, would increase the penalties even on wearing of masks and spitting, etc. if the norms are not strictly adhered to.

He said Punjab was currently at the 18th position in terms of COVID cases in the country but with an average of 400-odd cases per day for the last two days, the situation was a cause for concern.

The aim should be to minimise the spread to the extent possible, he said, adding that the recovery of more than 9,000 people was an encouraging sign but more needed to be done to win the war against COVID-19.

Singh appealed to recovered COVID patients to come forward to donate plasma, for which two more banks would soon be opened, in Amritsar and Faridkot. In Patiala, where the state's first plasma bank is functional, only seven of the 17 donors who came forward were found eligible to donate plasma, he said.

Expressing concern over the increasing number of COVID cases among frontline workers, the CM pointed out that around 250 police personnel in Punjab had been infected so far. Testing of the frontline workers was of paramount importance and the state government was focusing on that, he added.

Regarding a question on objectionable pictures at Jallianwala Bagh, the CM said the historic place was under the control of the Government of India. The state government had brought the issue to the Centre's notice and the pictures in question were being removed, he added.

Asked why local bodies elections were being held in October, considering the COVID-19 pandemic was unlikely to end by then, Singh said holding elections was a constitutional requirement.

While no date had been finalised, his government had asked the state election commission to decide on the date, possibly in the second week of October, before the onset of the festival and the paddy procurement seasons.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)