Picture : Twitter / ANI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned of strict action against those misbehaving with people on the frontline of the fight against coronavirus like doctors and airline crew, and sought the cooperation of citizens with administration to deal with the crisis.
In what is seen as attempt to reach to people about coronavirus , PM Modi stated that his disease does not discriminate between the rich and the poor, among regions and infects even those very conscious about their health, he said, adding that social distancing is the only way out and people should have patience and should follow guidelines.
Modi further stated that the government has joined hands with WhatsApp to start a help desk, and people can get proper guidelines about the virus by contacting a number (9013151515), the prime minister said.
Modi chose a video interaction with residents of Varanasi, the constituency he represents in Parliament, to respond to several queries related to the pandemic and his government”s response to it, and asserted that focusing on a few incidents of shortcomings will not help at this hour.
Invoking the Mahabharata, he said the epic war was won in 18 days and his government”s effort is to win this war against coronavirus in 21 days.
Lord Krishna was the charioteer then and now 130 crore people are the charioteers in this battle, he said.
To a question about the hardships being faced especially by the poor migrants and daily wagers, the prime minister acknowledged that there may be some difficulties.
If he claimed that all is well, then he would be deceiving himself, Modi said, and then added that what is a more important question is that whether the pandemic has to be defeated or not even if it means facing certain difficulties.
Even in normal times, people face certain problems, he said.
Noting that ”Navaratri” has started from Wednesday, he asked people to take care of nine poor families on each of the nine auspicious days, saying nothing can be of more devotion to goddess Durga. They should also tend to animals, he added.
“Karuna” (compassion) is also a step toward defeating the coronavirus, he said.
