India's fight against Covid-19 is truly people-driven, says PM Modi

As India recorded the highest one-day rise of 1,975 coronavirus cases, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the country’s fight against Covid-19 was truly “people-driven” and this was the “only way” to overcome the pandemic with the road ahead expected to figure in his upcoming discussions with chief ministers.
 

Amid indications that his third round of video interaction with the chief ministers on Monday since the Covid-19 outbreak could also focus on a graded exit from the lockdown, Modi asked people to shun complacency that they will not be infected by coronavirus because it has so far not affected the places where they live or work.
 

In his monthly Mann ki Baat broadcast, Modi said India was in the middle of a yudh (war) and asserted people have to continue being careful and take precautions. He reiterated his advice to people to maintain a distance of two yards from each other.
 

“Do gaz doori, bahut hai zaroori (Maintain a distance of two yards and keep yourself healthy).” With the country under a lockdown since March 24 midnight, the PM said India’s people-driven battle against the pandemic would be discussed when the world community debates the crisis later.
 

“India’s fight against the coronavirus is people-driven in the truest sense of the term. Along with people, government and administration are fighting it as well... This is the only way we can win over the virus,” he said.
 

In his 30-minute address, Modi also referred to a popular Hindi idiom Sawdhani hati, durghatna ghati (accident happens when caution is lowered) to make his point.  “I urge you not to get overconfident. You should in your over-enthusiasm not think that if the coronavirus has not yet reached your city, village, street or office, it is not going to reach now. Never make such a mistake. The experience of the world tells us a lot in this regard,” he said.