NEW DELHI: Praising the efforts of fellow citizens who are helping others at the time of pandemic, PM Narendra Modi in his monthly radio broadcast Mann ki Baat said each citizen should be emphatic towards the pain and suffering of migrant workers who were the worst hit because of Covid-19.
At the same time, he cautioned people against letting down their guards with gradual re-opening of the economy and asked them to be “extra alert and careful” so that after such “austere penance”, the country’s deft handling of crisis does not go in vain.
Acknowledging that the poor and labourers, especially migrants, had been hit the hardest, Modi said “their sufferings can’t be expressed in words”.Everyone is working to help the poor and labourers, he said and praised the efforts of the railways in transporting the migrants back home. “From the Centre, states, to local governance bodies, everybody is toiling around the clock. The way our railway men are relentlessly engaged, they too are frontline corona warriors.”
Stressing the need of following the Covid protocols more religiously, the PM cautioned, “Whether it is the mandatory ‘do gaz ki doori (two yards of distancing), wearing face masks or staying at home to the best extent possible, there should be no laxity on our part in complete adherence (to the laid down norms)… We must not let this fight weaken. Becoming careless or lackadaisical cannot be an option.”On his call for an ‘atmanirbhar’ or self-reliant India, Modi said people had now made it their own movement and had started buying only local products.
He also spoke about AYUSH ministry’s initiative to organise an online yoga competition and urged the countrymen to participate in large numbers. Talking about Ayushman Bharat, PM said one over crore families had benefited from the scheme and the “honest taxpayer” deserved the credit of this altruistic deed.