New Delhi: PM Modi on Thursday said despite a population of nearly 24 crore, UP managed to check the spread of coronavirus and overcame apprehensions on how the pandemic would impact the state. He also cautioned the fight against the deadly virus is so long that one has to work continuously to deal with it. “We cannot sit satisfied,” he asserted.
Interacting with representatives of various Varanasi-based non-government organisations via video link, he said Kashi has vigorously countered the unprecedented coronavirus crisis. Varanasi, aka Kashi, is the PM’s parliamentary constituency. He recalled a 100 years ago, a pandemic had struck. Though the population of India was much smaller, it was among the countries that had witnessed maximum deaths, he pointed out.
This time too, during the outbreak of coronavirus, experts had raised concerns about India, he said, adding that issues such as rise in virus cases due to movement of migrants and food for the needy in UP were flagged.
There were doubts and apprehensions about UP with a population of 23-24 crore. With the hard work of the people and their cooperation, the apprehensions were overcome, he said. Modi noted Brazil too has a population comparable to UP but it witnessed over 65,000 deaths due to the virus. In UP the deaths due to Covid are reported to be nearly 800, he pointed out.
The PM also hailed the role of people, authorities and NGOs of Varanasi in helping the needy, and urged citizens to strictly adhere to rules to prevent the virus’s spread.
