Chennai, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami on Sunday ordered companies employing workers from other states tocontinue to provide food, shelter and medical facilities to them.

He also ordered the District Collectors to ensure that the companies comply with the order.

In case the labourers from other states have moved out of their place of work and have reached railway/bus stations, then the District Collectors of those places should house them in temporary shelters and provide them food.

With the month coming to an end and in order to prepare the salary, Palaniswami has permitted the companies/educational institutions and others to approach the District Collectors and seek permission of two or three employees to attend to work for that purpose.

The government has also decided to set up a Crisis Management Committee in each district to be headed by the District Collector with members from Chambers of Commerce, heads of private hospitals, medical experts, pharma companies, experts from the fields of agriculture, livestock and fisheries, non-government organisations (NGOs) and consumer representatives.

According to Palaniswami, about 1.5 lakh pregnant women who are likely to deliver babies in the coming two months have been identified and medical personnel have been asked to take extra care of them.

Private hospitals should report to the Health Department about their patients suffering from serious respiratory problems, he added.