Fighting virus with all our might: PM Narendra Modi

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 30

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the country had experienced several moments of national pride in the seven years of his government and was moving ahead on its own convictions rather than under the pressure of other nations.

The PM noted that the past seven years had been a mix of trials and tribulations with Covid continuing to test the country’s collective resolve. He, however, expressed confidence that India would prevail over the virus.

Asserting that India is fighting Covid-19 with all its might, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his monthly ‘Mann ki Baat' address on a day he completed two years of his second term in office said the country's resolve to prevail over the virus was equal to the magnitude of the challenge it faced.

“In the midst of this pandemic, India is moving forward with the resolve of service and cooperation. In the first wave, we fought courageously; this time too India will be victorious in the ongoing fight against the virus,” he said. Over the seven years, he said, the country had followed the mantra of “sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas”. Many old disputes have also been resolved with complete peace and harmony, and a new confidence underpinned by peace and development has arisen from the northeast to Kashmir, he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi listed a range of measures taken by his government to boost national security and the country’s social development index through household piped water supply, better roads, and power connections.

“When we witness that now India gives a befitting reply to those who conspire against us, our confidence soars…. When India does not compromise on the issues of national security, when the strength of our armed forces increases, we feel that yes, we are on the right path,” the Prime Minister said, adding that India now moves ahead with its own convictions and not under pressure from other nations.

Noting that in seven decades after Independence only 3.5 crore rural homes had water connections, he said 4.5 crore houses had been given clean water connections in the last 21 months alone. Of these, 15 months were during the Covid period, he added.

When the poor come home healthy with free treatment under “Ayushman Yojana”, they feel that they have got a new life, he said.

“Many people are thankful that electricity has reached their village for the first time in 70 years, while many others say their village too is now connected to city by a paved road,” he said, referring to development works undertaken by his government since it took office in May 2014.

In these seven years, India has worked to show the world a new direction in digital transactions, and it is also setting records in launching satellites and constructing roads, he said.

The PM also hailed the agricultural front, saying the sector had kept itself insulated from the scourge of the pandemic to a great extent and progressed.

He lauded the farmers for record produce, saying that the available foodgrains had ensured free ration to 800 million underprivileged in this hour of crisis.