Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
New Delhi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced the extension of the nationwide lockdown till May 3, suggesting limited relaxation in select areas after April 20 keeping in mind interests of daily wage earners.
In his fourth address to the nation during the last few weeks, Modi said the government will continuously evaluate steps taken by each district/ areas under police stations of how the strictly lockdown measures are being implemented.Announcing a one-week strict observance, he said, during this time the measure of success in will determine relaxation especially how areas did not allow being turned into hotspots and controlled the situation in preventing any new case. Detailed guidelines in the regard will be issued by the Government on Wednesday, he said.
Prefacing his address thanking the people for bearing with hardships caused by the lockdown, he said, the collective strength and resolve demonstrated by the people is, in fact, a real tribute to the architect of the Constitution, Dr B R Ambedkar, whose birth anniversary is being observed today.
Explaining how the Centre was always ahead in taking steps to prevent the spread of the virus and ahead of the curve, he said while comparisons with other countries should not be done but the rate of progression in India is far less than countries that have greater resources and better health infrastructure.
In an apparent response to some criticism that India was late in taking preventing steps, PM said the country had begun screening tourists/international travellers at airports even before the first case was detected, started compulsory 14-day quarantine of those arriving in India before 100 cases were found and declared nationwide lockdown when 550 cases were recorded.
On health infrastructure being ramped up to face the challenge, he said as against the international norm of 1500 beds for every 10,000 cases, India now has 1 lakh beds and 600 hospitals dedicated to tackling Covid19 cases.
Outlining seven steps each citizen should take in the collective fight against the spread of the global health pandemic, he advised all to take extra precaution and care of senior citizens especially those with pre-existing diseases; follow social distancing and lockdown while using homemade face masks; download Aarogya Setu App and encourage others to do so; help the poor to the extent possible and take care of their food requirements; increase personal immunity by following AYUSH guidelines; have empathy towards employees and not remove them from work, and respect for frontline warriors engaged in fighting the pandemic.
