Going micro on Covid management, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday held interactions with District Magistrates of 46 districts of nine states and asked them to tailor the pandemic containment policy as per the local need, saying it is the victory of the nation over corona, when the district beats it.
In the backdrop of the government facing flak from Opposition-ruled states on vaccine availability, Modi also told the meeting, that was also attended by Chief Ministers, that attempts are being taken to provide a 15-day advance schedule of the vaccination programme to states to get them enough time to prepare.
"You understand the challenges of your district much better. So when your district wins, the country wins. When your district beats corona, the country defeats corona," Modi said at the meeting, in line with the changed strategy of the government during the second wave of the pandemic, after it has involved the districts and municipal corporations directly in order to thrash out aggressive localisted Covid containment strategy without any national level lockdown plan, which has been found to be having devastating economic repercussions.
"Local containment zones, aggressive testing and correct and complete information to the people are the weapons against the virus," Modi said.
In the meeting, the Prime Minister called the district officials as "field commanders" in the fight against Covid-19 and told them that they are free to make their own innovations at district level in the existing policy on Covid-19 management. He told them to share their feedback about any change in policy without any hesitation.
Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, Chief Ministers and officers from different government wings attended the meeting. Modi will address the CMs of 54 districts on May 20 as well. These are among 100 districts with top Covid caseload.
Modi on Tuesday called the district officials "field commanders" in the fight against Covid-19 and told them that they were free to make their own innovations at the district level in the existing policy on Covid-19 management. He told them to share their feedback about any change in policy without hesitation.
"There are as many challenges as many districts in the country. In a way, every district has its own challenge. You under the challenges of your districts in a better way. Hence when your district wins, the country emerges victorious. If your district defeats coronavirus, the nation defeats coronavirus," Modi said at the meeting with the DMs.
He batted for local containment zones, aggressive testing and providing information to people as the "weapons against the virus".
The Prime Minister said that continuous efforts are being taken all the time to increase the supply of Covid-19 vaccines on a large scale and the health ministry is regularly streamlining the systems processes related to vaccines. He also called for busting all vaccination myths since vaccination is a powerful way to fight the virus.
Asking for more caution now in the midst of the falling number of Covid-19 cases, the Prime Minister underlined the need to focus in a big way on rural parts and areas that are difficult to reach in order to save every life in this second wave of the pandemic.
"At this time the statistics of Covid infections are coming down in many states while they are rising in some. We need to be more careful in the time of the dwindling numbers," he said, asking for consistent attention on "testing, tracking and Covid appropriate behaviour."
The Prime Minister advised the officials also to take care of the ease of living of every citizen of their district. He stressed on the need to stop infections and at the same time ensure unhindered flow of essential supplies. He also spoke about how getting vaccinated is instrumental to lowering the severity of the disease and reducing hospitalisations and mortalities.