Panaji,  Caught in the midst of an unprecedented spike in Covid-19 cases and fatalities, the Goa government on Friday suspended the implementation of its flagship 'Atmanirbhar Bharat - Swayampurna Goa' outreach initiative.

"As a preventive measure, due to rise in the number of Covid positive cases in the state, all the swayampurna Sahayaks shall suspend all the activities under this programme till further order," a government directive issued on Friday said.

The scheme was initiated by the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant-led government last year as an extension of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' campaign, with an objective to "make the government beneficiary oriented schemes reach the doorsteps of the last person".

It also envisages self-sustainability by identifying and tapping the potential, identifying the skills of the unemployed youth and needs of the people, "thereby fulfilling the aspirations of the needy people with less government and more governance".

The state currently has 22,945 active Covid-19 cases, while 1,168 persons have died due to Covid-19 related complications.