Role of PM Modi during COVID-19

Role of PM Modi during COVID-19

The prime minister was successful in conveying a clear message to the people of India that in fighting this pandemic, we have to be united and that our collective future depends on our resolve to maintain social distancing. The fact that 1.3 billion citizens spontaneously and voluntarily agreed to follow the Janata curfew and applaud our health care and essential service workers, followed by majority of the population’s willingness to support the 21-day lockdown, shows that India is a mature democracy in which citizens support even the drastic measures of the government if it is in national and larger health interest. 



PM Modi's address to the nation on COVID-19

After the COVID outbreak Prime Minister Modi addressed 3 times to the nation.



First address on March 19^th: PM Narendra Modi made an appeal to people across India. He urged all countrymen to follow ‘Janata Curfew’ on Sunday, 22nd March, from 7 AM to 9 PM. PM Modi said Janta Curfew is beginning of a long battle.

The PM's appeal for Janata Curfew had birth a three-fold impact: 

·       It demonstrated that our entire nation can voluntarily rise to avert a calamity bearing testimony to our collective determination, will power and discipline. 

Even a single day of universal social distancing had a blow to the transmission chain of the virus.

·       It had prepared us for the next steps in case we experience a full-blown stage III scenario

Steps taken to promote Social Distancing in India: 

a.      Railway concessions suspended to discourage travel. 

b.     Work from home, alternate day attendance and staggered timings for Government employees. 

c.      States to regulate working hours, except for essential services. 

d.     States to explore staggered timings for industry, measures to check crowds. 

e.      Schools, gyms etc must be closed, no sporting events or religious gatherings.  

The PM's key proposals against COVID-19 outbreak: 

·       Covid-19 Economic task force to be headed by the Finance Minister. It will take measures to boost the economy and ensure decisions are implemented.  

·       Don’t cut wages of those working for you.

·       Children under 10 years and those aged over 60 years should stay home.

·       Avoid panic buying, India has enough supplies.

·       At 5 pm on Sunday express gratitude to those working around the clock.

·       Avoid routine health check-ups at hospitals and postpone elective surgery.

·       Stay away from rumours.

Second Address on March 24: Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered a nationwide lockdown for 21 days. He stated that the analysis of happenings in all these countries since the last two months, and the opinion of experts has proved that there is only one way to effectively deal with Coronavirus - Social Distancing.

Video message

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a video message on Friday March 27, urged Indians to switch off their lights for 9 minutes at 9 pm on Sunday, April 5 and asked everyone to light a candle, 'diya', or mobile flashlight, to mark the fight against coronavirus. PM cautioned Indians from venturing out on streets during the nine-minute activity.



Third Address on April 14: PM Modi announced extension of lockdown 2.0 for 19 days (April 15 to May 3) and gave final key seven for the population:

Scientists, Researchers and educators clearly suggest that PM Modi’s bold move of lockdown and strict implementation by state and local authorities has ensured that many lives are saved.  We look forward to win the battle.

Containment of COVID-19 in Uttar Pradesh (UP): Most populated state of India

Containment of COVID-19 in Uttar Pradesh (UP): Most populated state of India

India currently under lockdown 2.0 for 19 days (April 15 to May 3) is fighting back against COVID-19 with a “cluster containment strategy” to contain the disease within a defined geographic area by early detection of cases, breaking the chain of transmission and thus preventing its spread.

Italy the first European country reported outbreak of COVID-19 and is badly affected by the virus. Italy has 6.04 crores (2019) Population. Italy is close to me as my boss Prof. Annamaria Campanini, President of International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW) hails from Italy. We work closely together by using all kind of digital options: Whatsapp, Emails, Skype and video calls etc.

I am based in Mumbai and my home town is Prayagraj city of Uttar Pradesh (UP), north Indian state with the population of population of 19.98 Crores (as per 2011 census).  I follow the news keenly on regular basis about all preventive /precautionary measures taken by UP Govt.
One day my brother (who is based in Prayagraj) showed concern on Italy and as he had no idea about population of Italy. I told him, “UP me char Italy ban jayenge” (as a rough estimation the population of UP is 4 times of Italy).

on April 19, UP has 969 total confirmed cases, 86 cured/discharged and 14 deaths recorded. Source: https://www.mygov.in/corona-data/covid19-statewise-status)

UP reported its first positive case on March 3 and out of 75 districts 27 are having COVID positive cases. Looking at the population of UP the question arise how state had controlled the number of cases? Let’s see it in following heads:

Containment strategy 
From being the first to declare a coronavirus cluster in Agra, UP started action on the field by undertaking house-to-house contact-tracing, making self-reporting mandatory, building a specialized app to track the heath of those in self-isolation and self-quarantine. UP has set a template to combat the virus.

The Cluster Containment Strategy
The Govt identified clusters/hotspots in UP and started contain the disease within a defined geographic area by early detection of cases, breaking the chain of transmission and thus preventing its spread to new areas. This would include geographic quarantine, social distancing measures, enhanced active surveillance, testing all suspected cases, isolation of cases, quarantine of contacts and risk communication to create awareness among public on preventive public health measures.

Help from the Citizen of UP
Any public health programme/model can not be successful without the support of local population. Citizen of UP is really helping Government’s actions by various means: being inside the home during the lockdown, following all the measures/instructions provided by Govt. Citizen of UP is actively helping Govt in various way: following all the instructions. In some places local public also helping Police and administration by informing any “new”/unknown person (if hiding).

Supply of Essentials
The Uttar Pradesh government used more than 10,000 vehicles for delivery of essential products like vegetables, milk, medicines etc. to assure the public of availability of these products and prevent them from stepping out of their houses during the lockdown.
The UP CM Yogi Adityanath in a statement said that close to 4,500 police response vehicles (PRVs), 4,200 ambulances- both 102 and 108 as well as vehicles owned by government's food department and other government vehicle will help in delivering these products at peoples' doorsteps while appealing that people stay inside their homes and not step out to mandis and grocery stores.

Salary/employment and monetary help
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath directed all concerned to ensure that all temporary or outsourced employee of educational institutes, hospitals or offices are not deprived of their honorariums as they will not be able to attend the office due to lockdown.
The chief minister also directed to release a sum of Rs 1,000 per head for those belonging to weakers sections. In addition, he also directed to provide Rs 1,000 to the all those of the urban and rural areas who have not been covered so far in any welfare scheme.
So far, the state government has given Rs 236. 98 crores as maintenance allowance to 23.70 lakh labourers from its resources, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Kumar Awasthi informed.

Special arrangements for the weaker section
Beside the help from Central Government*, UP provided additional help to people below poverty line.
UP Supply Mitra Portal, Annapurna Portal
Uttar Pradesh government has started a new UP Supply Mitra Portal, Annapurna Portal for citizens at supplymitra-up.com. At this portal, people can get information of nearby kirana and ration items distribution centres for home delivery at Supply Mitra portal. People can even get information of cooked food distribution centres as well as food items vitaran kendras at Annapurna Portal. In case anyone wants to include their name in list of stores for home delivery of food, ration items to people during Coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown can apply online.
Along with home delivery of food items, people can also apply for inclusion of their name in the list of suppliers of cooked food. The main objective of launching UP Supply Mitra Portal by CM Yogi Adityanath is to ensure that no person in the state remains hungry.

UP Yogi Majdur Bhatta Yojana (Financial help to weaker section)
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on March 21 announced that state government will give lakhs of daily wage labourers and construction workers Rs 1,000 per month to meet their household needs. This was most relaxing announcement for weaker section during the panic of lockdown. More than 35 Lakh daily wage labourers will be benefitted under this scheme.

Bringing back Migrant workers from other states
After nationwide lockdown halting all means of transport was announced migrant workers and workers from Haryana and Delhi started walking towards UP to go back to their places.  The Uttar Pradesh government arranged 1,000 buses to ferry migrant labourers who are stranded on the border districts i.e.  Noida, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahar and Aligarh and other places. The buses later left for Kanpur, Ballia, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Azamgarh, Faizabad, Basti, Pratapgarh, Sultanpur, Amethi, Rae Bareli, Gonda, Etawah, Bahraich and Shravasti.
These migrant workers were kept in isolation ward arranged by the Govt. They were provided all kind of facilities such as food, water, medical assistance etc for containment of virus.
*________________________________________
Help from Central Govt.
PMJDY 2020 PM Jan Dhan Yojana
all women who hold the Jan Dhan accounts in the banks will get 500 rupees for the upcoming three months.
PradhanMantri Ujjwala Yojana
PM Ujjwala Scheme is a Central Government funded scheme launched with an aim to provide five Crore (50 million) LPG connections to BPL families of the country. During Pandemic, PM Modi announced to provide cylinder free for three months. The Govt started putting money for cylinder in the account of beneficiary of Ujjwala Scheme and they can get cylinder after payment.

References:
http://supplymitra-up.com/
https://www.mygov.in/corona-data/covid19-statewise-status/
https://www.pmjdy.gov.in/scheme
https://pmuy.gov.in/

How India is fighting against COVID-19 Pandemic

How India is fighting against COVID-19 Pandemic

Preparedness of India
The first case of the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic in India was reported on 30 January 2020, originating from China. India’s fight against the Covid-19 outbreak has been unique. Restrictions have been imposed much earlier than in many countries, including China, which failed to contain the spread of the virus.
As the nation of 1.3 billion people shut down, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said India's COVID fight could make or break the global war. WHO said India has a tremendous capacity to deal with the pandemic as it has experience of eradicating smallpox and polio.

"India is at a crucial juncture in its fight against COVID-19. The country has responded with urgency and determination as reflected in the Prime Minister's bold and decisive leadership. The government has also aggressively stepped up the response measures - find, isolate, test, treat and trace. WHO is supporting the government's endeavour to further strengthen and intensify surveillance and build capacity of the health system. WHO stands together in solidarity with the government in its firm resolve to overcome this unprecedented challenge," says Dr Henk Bekedam, WHO Representative to India.
Government of India is taking all necessary steps to ensure that we are prepared well to face the challenge and threat posed by the growing pandemic of COVID-19 the Corona Virus. With active support of the people of India, we have been able to contain the spread of the Virus in our country. The most important factor in preventing the spread of the Virus locally is to empower the citizens with the right information and taking precautions as per the advisories being issued by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.

I will highlight chronology of event and analysis major steps taken by Government of India:

January–February
Protective measures were first applied in January. India began thermal screening of passengers arriving from China on 21 January. Initially carried out at 7 airports, it was expanded to 20 airports towards the end of January. During February, the screening was extended to passengers from Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea.  Nepal, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia were added to the list towards the end of February. Very few new cases were discovered during February.

March

·       On 3 March 2020, the Indian government stopped issuing of new visas. Previously issued visas for the nationals of Italy, Iran, South Korea, and Japan were suspended. 

·       On 4 March 2020, the Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, announced compulsory screening of all international passengers arriving in India. He also said that so far, 589,000 people have been screened at airports, over one million screened at borders with Nepal and around 27,000 were currently under community surveillance.

·       On 12 March 2020 onwards The Press Information Bureau (PIB)started regular press briefing and updating citizen of India about the situation of COVID-19. This press briefing has joint secretary from Home Ministry, Health Ministry and Ministry of External Affairs, also senior scientist of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

This press briefing telecast at 4 PM IST and people wait for this every day. At my home everyone watches this with interest.  
All videos of press briefing can be found here: https://pib.gov.in/WebcastMore.aspx
Travel and entry restrictions
All visas were suspended 13 March 2020, except for diplomatic and other official visas, as well as the visa-free travel for Overseas Citizens of India. Indians returning from COVID-affected countries were asked to be quarantined for 14 days.

·       On 14 March 2020 65 labs were named capable for testing for the virus (though as of 17 March not all are fully functional). 

·       On 14 March 2020, scientists at the National Institute of Virology isolated a strain of the novel coronavirus. By doing so, India became the fifth country to successfully obtain a pure sample of the virus after China, Japan, Thailand and the US.

·       On 17 March 2020, The Government of India issued an advisory urging to all Indian states to take social distancing measures as a preventive strategy for implementation.

·       On 24 March 2020, the Government of India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered a nationwide lockdown for 21 days, limiting movement of the entire 1.3 billion population of India as a preventive measure against the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in India. It was ordered after a 14-hour voluntary public curfew on 22 March, followed by enforcement of a series of regulations in the country's COVID-19 affected regions. 

·       On 24 March 2020, Pune-based molecular diagnostic company Mylab Discovery Solutions became the first Indian company to have received validation for its RT-PCR tests from National Institute of Virology and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The test takes 2.5 hours and the company is looking to price it at around ₹1,200 (US$17), or Rs 80,000 for a 100-test kit.

·       On 28 March 2020, the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund) was set up to provide relief to the affected people. Several large business groups contributed to the relief fund also each and every Individual is contributing in it.

April 

·       As of 14 April 2020, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare have confirmed a total of 10,363 cases, 1,036 recoveries (including 1 migration) and 339 deaths in the country. (source https://www.mohfw.gov.in/)

·       On 14 April 2020, PM Narendra Modi extended nationwide lockdown till 3 May, and he also announced that after 20 April a conditional relaxation in lockdown will be given in some areas of the country where spread have been prevented or contained.

References:
Press Information Bureau (Government of India): https://pib.gov.in/
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare: https://www.mohfw.gov.in/