PM says don’t drop guard, keep children protected
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday asked officials to record the spread of coronavirus among young people and children, cautioning that the fight against the pandemic will continue so long as the disease remains even in a small area of the country.
Speaking to district magistrates, local officials and chief ministers of some states, Modi said India’s battle against Covid-19 required continuous change and upgradation of plans and innovation. He said vaccine supplies would be strengthened, emphasised the need to save the villages and sought ideas and practices to tackle the pandemic.
“This virus is famous for changing itself through mutations. It is like a bahurupia (shape-shifter) and clever as well. So, our strategies and plans should also be dynamic,” he said.
Modi said there was a need to prevent vaccine wastage and added that every dose wasted was denying someone protection
shield against the disease.
He commended the Union health ministry’s plan of providing states with vaccine stocks that will last 15 days and called for a need for a vaccination calendar. He added that more transparency in the supply of vaccines will make the inoculation campaign easier.
NEW DELHI: Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Thursday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide free education to children who have lost either both parents, or the head of the household to Covid-19. She suggested the use of central Navodaya Vidyalayas across the country for the purpose.
In a letter to Modi, Gandhi said the nation owes it to such children to give them “hope for a robust future”. Gandhi’s letter comes days after Congress leader G S Bali from Himachal Pradesh announced the party will adopt all children orphaned by the pandemic in the state’s Kangra district.
In her letter, Gandhi recalled how the creation of Navodaya Vidyalayas across the country was her husband and late former Prime Minister Rajiv
Gandhi’s most significant legacy. It was his dream to make high-quality modern education accessible and affordable to talented children predominantly from rural areas, she said.
Gandhi said as India battles the second Covid-19 wave, thousands of children have lost both their parents and have no one to look after them.
She added that others are in a situation where a single surviving parent is unable to take care of them financially and psychologically.
Also Read | Delhi sees 3,231 Covid-19 cases and 233 deaths, positivity rate falls to 5.50%
Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also tweeted, “Children are amongst the worst hit by Covid trauma, many having lost their parents to the dreadful situation.
Congress President makes an important suggestion to safeguard their future & provide them free education at NVs. It’s high time GOI listened!”
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday announced that children, who have lost their parents to Covid-19 will be provided monthly assistance of Rs 2,500 up to the age of 25 years. Also, the government will provide them free education.
Bharatiya Janata Party governments in Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh have also announced schemes and initiatives to take care of the orphaned children.