Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday expressed his concern over the sight of crowed places with gatherings of people not following the COVID-19 guidelines. He said that there should be no space for carelessness or complacency and that a single mistake would have far-reaching impact and may weaken the fight against the pandemic.
This is not a pleasant sight and it should instil a “sense of fear in us”, Modi said referring to pictures and videos of crowded tourists’ places doing the rounds as he interacted with members of the Council of Ministers a day after he reshuffled and expanded it.
According to sources, he said, people are seen not wearing masks or following the social distancing guidelines in the pictures.
“He added that in such a time, there should be no space for carelessness or complacency. A single mistake would have far-reaching impacts and weaken the fight to overcome COVID-19,” a source said.
He underlined that India’s fight against the second wave of COVID-19 is underway with full force while the vaccination programme going on steadily and testing numbers also consistently high.
“The PM said that with the Covid infection numbers being fewer than what they were in the recent months, people may want to venture out. However, everyone must remember that the threat of COVID-19 is far from over. Many other nations are seeing surges in infections. The virus is also mutating,” he added.
Sources said, in the meeting he also expressed his concern at the insistently high number of coronavirus cases coming from Maharashtra and Kerala, hence he told the ministers that the aim should not be instill fear but to request people to keep taking all possible precautions so that the nation is able to move beyond this pandemic in the times to come.
He asked his ministers to channelise all their energy into their ministerial work and to reach office on time and on helping the most deprived people.
He said the new ministers can meet their seniors and learn from their experience, the sources said.
The new ministers those who are no longer part of the government have made contributions and newcomers can learn from them, said the PM.
In a word of advice, he said it is the work that only matters and the ministers should not get trapped in the vicious circle of grabbing media attention.
He said ministers should avoid making unnecessary statements.
