Long battle

such as wearing of mask while stepping out, social distancing, hand hygiene etc. With lockdown being lifted the risk of disease transmission also increases as there will be greater public movement.”

India ended Sunday with 190,533 cases and 5,328 deaths. The fatality rate in India remains much lower than the global fatality rate, and experts suggest that the lockdown, extended thrice, has pushed back the peak of infections, giving the country time to strengthen its health care infrastructure.

Modi expressed his appreciation for the efforts made by both individuals and organisations in helping those in need during the pandemic and its aftermath. No section has been spared the impact of the pandemic, he said.

“However, the worst affected are the poor and the labourers. Their pain, their agony, and their ordeal can’t be expressed in words,” he said.

Millions of migrant workers in the cities, fearing the loss of their livelihoods, have headed home in states such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal, braving hunger, thirst and heat, in an exodus triggered by the enforcement of the lockdown. Indian Railways is running special trains to transport them to their home states.

The PM said the railways too has become a front line worker in the fight against the coronavirus disease. “The Centre, states, local bodies are all working day and night. The way our Railway forces are making efforts roundthe-clock, they are in a way front line corona warriors transporting safely millions of migrant labourers to their homes; arranging for their food, managing quarantine centres in every district and arrangements for testing and treatment for everyone. All these efforts are going on continuously and at a large scale,” he said.

But Congress leader Kapil Sibal criticised the Centre, saying the government has not able to handle the migrant crisis. He said “the government’s social distancing with people has increased so much that it does not know what is happening on the ground and how to address the problems faced by people, especially the poor”.

In his address, the PM also said the situation should serve as a lesson for India to make provisions for the future. He cited the situation of workers in the eastern states as a case in point, and said the problems suffered by the poor during the crisis had been exacerbated by the lack of development in the region.

The PM reiterated his message of the need for an Aatmanirbhar Bharat (Self-Reliant India) and said many problems being confronted now would not have arisen if the villages and towns of the country were self-reliant.

“At some places work in skill mapping of the labourers is taking place, at some places startups are being encouraged, a migration commission has been commissioned somewhere and the Centre will also help open up opportunities for employment, self-employment and smallscale industries in villages. These decisions are aimed at resolving the crisis and building a self-reliant India,” he said.

Experts believe that while this does present an opportunity for northern and eastern Indian states, which have received the maximum number of migrants, ensuring jobs for them will be very challenging. Ajay Kumar, associate professor of development education at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), said: “It is a structural issue. This is a problem of regional imbalances. Self-reliance doesn’t exist in a vacuum, and self-reliance cannot be created only by political will. A comprehensive approach is required to resolve this issue — which should be a combination of social, educational, political and economic development of the region.”

The PM also urged people to tap the benefits offered by yoga; several international leaders have shown interest in knowing more about ayurveda and yoga in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, he said. “We have to explore yoga for community, immunity and unity,” he said.

With World Environment Day coming up on June 5, the PM also said it was imperative to pay attention to biodiversity and pay attention to the conservation of water. “In some parts of eastern India, we witnessed destruction caused by cyclone (Amphan) …The way people of West Bengal and Odisha showed courage in dealing with the situation is commendable. In this hour of crisis, the country is standing by the side of people of these two states” he said.