PM appeals: Take lockdown seriously
NEWDELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday appealed to state governments to ensure that rules and regulations of the coronavirus lockdown are enforced as he noted that many people are not taking the measure seriously.
“Many people are still not taking the lockdown seriously. Please save yourself, save your family, follow the instructions . I request state governments to ensure rules and laws are followed,” he said in a tweet in Hindi.
The Centre and state governments have decided to completely lock down 80 districts across the country where coronavirus cases have been reported.
Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala announced lockdown in many districts.
Delhi will be locked down from 6 am on March 23 till midnight on March 31.
The Prime Minister on Monday also hailed the crew of Air India which has been evacuating stranded people from coronavirus-hit countries, a day after the airline complained that some “vigilante” resident welfare associations and neighbours were ostracising its crew members who went abroad as part of their duty.
The airline in a press release on Sunday said it was alarming that in many localities Air India crew members were facing ostracisation because they travelled abroad to evacuate Indians.
“Extremely proud of this team of @airindiain, which has shown utmost courage and risen to the call of humanity. Their outstanding efforts are admired by several people across India. #Indiafightscorona,” the Prime Minister tweeted.
He tagged a tweet from aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri who said, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going,” posting a photograph of the crew of Air India Boeing 777 led by Captain Swati Raval and Captain Raja Chauhan who airlifted 263 I ndians, mostly s t udents, stranded in Rome.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Modi on Monday also held an interaction with media heads through video conferencing over Covid-19.
Subhash Chandra from Zee Group, Kalli Purie from Aaj Tak, Rajat Sharma, Editor-in-chief of India TV, Republic TV founder Arnab Goswami and Smita Prakash, Editor at Asian News International, among others attended the video conference.
Information & broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar was also present with the Prime Minister.