Don’t let lockdown woes turn into disasters: Modi in 'letter to citizens'

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 29

Acknowledging the tremendous suffering endured by migrant workers and disadvantaged sections during the Covid-19 lockdown period, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said the country has to ensure that inconveniences being faced do not turn into disasters.

“In a crisis of this magnitude, it can certainly not be claimed that no one suffered any inconvenience or discomfort. Our labourers, migrant workers, artisans and craftsmen in small-scale industries, hawkers and such fellow countrymen have undergone tremendous suffering, PM Modi said in a letter to citizens on the completion of one year in office of the second term.

Recounting a series of measures undertaken to usher in a change, he said just as the country was moving at a fast pace, Covid engulfed the country. Praising citizens for the confidence and resilience with which they faced the global pandemic and transforming the way the world now looked at India, he cautioned that everyone had to take care and follow guidelines to ensure that “inconveniences that we are facing do not turn into disasters”.

“We have displayed patience so far and we should continue to do so. This is one of the important reasons for India being safer and in a better state than many other countries. This is a long battle but we have started traversing the path of victory, and victory is our collective resolve,” he said.

He reiterated that becoming self-reliant — Atmanirbhar Bharat — was the need of the hour in the post-Covid era.

Recalling that in 2014 people voted for a substantive transformation, he said in the last five years, the nation saw how the administrative apparatus broke free from the swamp of corruption as well as misgovernance. From 2014 to 2019, India’s stature rose significantly. The nation achieved financial inclusion, total sanitation coverage, and made progress towards ensuring “housing for all”.

“In 2019, people voted not merely for continuity but also with a dream of taking India to new heights,” the PM said, noting that today people feel involved in the development trajectory of the nation.

“Powered by the mantra of ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas’, India is marching forward in all spheres”, he said choosing to describe himself as “Pradhan Sevak”.

In the last one year, some of the decisions were widely discussed and remained etched in public discourse. Article 370 furthered the spirit of national unity. The Ram Mandir judgment brought an amicable end to a debate persisting for centuries. There were many other decisions that added momentum to the nation’s development trajectory, PM Modi said.

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