Take the Navratri pledge, help 9 families in lockdown: PM Modi
PM Modi, who was speaking on the first day of 9-day Navratri festival and also the first day since he announced the nationwide lockdown, said taking this pledge would be a "true Navratri".
In Short
- Take pledge to help 9 families for 21 days, it'll be true Navratri: PM
- PM Modi was addressing the citizens of Varanasi via video conferencing
- PM announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown in a video address on Tuesday
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a video address on Wednesday asked citizens of the country to take care of nine families for the 21-day lockdown period if they can. PM Modi, who was speaking on the first day of 9-day Navratri festival and also the first day since he announced the nationwide lockdown, said taking this pledge would be a "true Navratri".
In his video interaction with citizens of Varanasi, PM Modi said, "Today is the first day of Navratri, you all must be busy in performing rituals and offering prayers, but still you took out time for this interaction, I'm grateful to all of you. I pray to Goddess Shailputri to give us the strength to fight country's battle against coronavirus.
Whoever has the capability, take the pledge to take care of 9 families for 21 days, it will be a true 'Navratri'. Due to the lockdown, animals are also facing trouble. I appeal to people to take care of the animals around them: Prime Minister Narendra Modi pic.twitter.com/1eT98qnyShANI (@ANI) March 25, 2020
PM Modi added, "Mahabharat war was won in 18 days, this war the whole country is fighting against corona will take 21 days. Our aim is to win this war in 21 days."
PM Narendra Modi also appealed to the entire country to not discriminate against medical staff at any cost.
Doctors across the country have sought government intervention, saying a number of their colleagues were facing eviction by house owners, who fear the medical staffers could become the carriers of the virus.
PM Modi said, "Have received news from some quarters that has deeply hurt me. I appeal to all citizens, if you see ill-treatment being meted out to any medical staff, please go there and make people understand what they are doing is wrong."
He even equated those involved in the medical profession to god.
"In this time of crisis, any person wearing a white coat in a hospital is an incarnation of God. It is these people who are saving us all from death. They are putting their lives in danger to do so," he said.
Recalling the praise people had heaped on corona warriors during Sunday's Janata Curfew, PM Modi said, "In our country, the sentiment to publicly express gratitude to those who are serving the nation is growing stronger day by day."
"Coronavirus can neither erase our culture nor our values. Thus, in time of crisis, our sensitivities should be heightened," the prime minister added.
The government on Wednesday gave power to zonal Deputy Commissioners to take "strict penal action" against landlords who have been forcing doctors and paramedical staff, engaged in fighting the novel coronavirus, to vacate their rented premises.
According to a government notification, such behaviour "not only strikes at the root of the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic but also tantamount to obstruction of duty of essential services".