Bhopal, With the coronavirus pandemic assuming frightening proportions in Madhya Pradesh, the 23-day-old Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has handed the micro-monitoring to 10 IAS officers who will report to the Chief Secretary daily.

The government has also set up a technical advisory committee, headed by Health Department Director Sudam P. Khade (IAS), which will prepare an action plan to control the pandemic.

It's the third committee within a month. Before this, two high-level committees were formed to advise how to revive activities to improve the economic situation.

The new committee will submit daily analysis of the situation and information about the action to Mohammed Suleman, Additional Chief Secretary, Health Department.

There is no cabinet and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has shown no urgency to form one. Suggestions from within the BJP to at least appoint Health Minister, Home Minister and Food and Civil Supplies Minister have been shrugged off.

Chouhan has been marshalling the bureaucrats to deal with the crisis that has overshadowed everything else. The stress is on keeping the regional party satraps engaged in a process that would normally be handled by the council of ministers.

In the 22 days since Prime Minister Narendra Modi first announced a 'janata curfew' and then nationwide shutdown, the state has seen the crisis turning from bad to worse.

The state reported its first coronavirus death on March 25, two days after the new government took charge. In three weeks, the toll has touched 50. During the same period, the Covid-19 has infected nearly 800 people.

With 32 people testing positive a day, the state stands next only to Maharashtra.

Chauhan has allocated 49 of the 51 districts to 10 IAS officers. They will review independently the performance in the assigned districts as per the Covid-19 strategy.

The status of Indore, Bhopal and Ujjain is being reviewed at the state level.

Manu Srivastava has been assigned Sheopur, Morena, Bhind, Datia and Gwalior; Neeraj Mandloi (Betul, Hoshangabad, Harda and Sehore); Rashmi Arun Shami (Ratlam, Shajapur, Agar, Mandsaur and Neemuch); Dipali Rastogi (Dhar, Alirajpur, Jhabua, Khargone, Badwani and Burhanpur); Nitesh Vyas (Sagar, Damoh, Panna, Chhatarpur Tikamgarh and Niwari); D.P. Ahuja (Jabalpur, Katni, Narsinghpur, Khandwa and Chhindwara); Mukesh Gupta (Seoni, Mandla, Dindori and Balaghat); Pawan Sharma(Dewas, Rewa, Singrauli, Sidhi and Satna); Kavindra Kiawat (Guna, Ashoknagar, Umaria, Shahdol and Anuppur) and B. Chandrashekhar (Raisen, Rajgarh, Vidisha and Shivpuri)