India putting up well-planned fight against coronavirus: Amit Shah

Terming coronavirus as an unprecedented challenge, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said India is putting up a well-planned fight against the pandemic under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership

Terming coronavirus as an unprecedented challenge, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said India is putting up a well-planned fight against the pandemic under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership.

The BJP leader asked people to take necessary precautions until a vaccine is found.

"Coronavirus is an unprecedented challenge for us and for the entire mankind. But we are fighting against it in a well-planned manner under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the whole world has recognised our efforts," he said.

Shah, a Lok Sabha member from Gandhinagar inaugurated or performed ground-breaking ceremony for various projects worth Rs 134 crore in the constituency via video-conferencing.

Some of these projects include renovation of gardens, widening of internal roads of Gandhinagar city, addition of classrooms in two schools, and widening of Pethapur-Nardipur road.

Though coronavirus has slowed down the pace of ongoing developmental works in Gandhinagar, the pandemic won't be able to hold back Gujarat or India for long, said Shah, who recently recovered from coronavirus infection.

"When I visited Gandhinagar for the first time after assuming the charge as home minister, I told the people of my constituency that it will be my priority to see that Gandhinagar remains on top among other constituencies in terms of development," he said.

"Due to coronavirus, the pace of development has slowed down in Gandhinagar. But I want to assure you that it cannot hold back the development of Gandhinagar, Gujarat or our country. We will definitely regain our pace under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi," he said.

He praised the state government and Chief Minister Vijay Rupani for their efforts in "containing the virus".

"Gujarat's situation has improved in comparison to the initial phase when cases were on the rise. Now, the mortality rate has also come down and a significant number of patients are recovering as well," Shah said.

But our fight is far from over yet, he said, adding that public awareness is the only solution until a vaccine is invented.

"We must maintain social distancing to stop the spread of the virus," he said.

Shah also congratulated BJP workers for "helping people in this challenging times".