PM Modi applauds India's health workers for making a success of Covid vaccine programme

Ravi S Singh
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, October 24

Prime Minister Narendra Modi applauded India’s vaccination programme on Sunday—days after the country crossed a billion cumulative doses of Covid-19 vaccines.

Modi, who was addressing the 83rd edition of his monthly broadcast ‘Mann ki Baat’, said health workers across the country worked hard and fought many an odd to keep the programme going.

“I used to be often asked the reason for my confidence about the vaccination drive. The reason was my confidence in people of the country,” Modi said.

Modi also pitched for drone technology in his address, saying the use of drones will dominate the socio-economic landscape in the coming times. 

Modi opened his address with reference to the vaccination drive, noting that crossing the billion-plus vaccination milestone inheres within a legion of untold and challenging experiences and emotions, including of medical fraternity, especially health workers.

With regard to the use of drones, he urged the youth to innovate in its technology to make India among the front-rankers in this field.

India is among the first countries to use drone service for mapping of village land, he said. 

Drones are being used for community services, he said as he referred to their use in the delivery of utilities and transportation of vaccines in challenging geographical terrains in places such as Manipur and Gujarat.

The Union government recently has eased the rules for the use and manufacture of drones. Consequently, start-ups in the field have started getting handsome investments, including from off-shore, he said.

He also applauded women's growing participation in myriad disciplines helping in the nation's march to become a multi-dimensional powerhouse.

He said the country will be celebrating Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel's birth anniversary on October 31, which is commemorated as Unity of India Day. Among the celebratory preparations, he referred to Women Self-Help Groups (SHGs) in Kupwara in Jammu and Kashmir sewing the Indian Tricolour for the occasion.

On UN Day on Sunday, he also spoke about India’s contribution to the UN Peace Keeping Mission and its association with the United Nations almost since its inception.

Hansa Mehta, a woman member of the Indian delegation to UNO in getting the initial phraseology of UNO's Universal Declaration of Human Rights, also found a mention in the address.

"The initial phrase read ‘All men are created equal…’ Mehta's interjection resulted in it being amended as: ‘All human beings are created equal’,” Modi said. He also referred to the contributions of Vijay Lakshmi Pandit and Lakshmi Menon to the United Nations.

Modi concluded his address with a pitch for cleanliness, especially against single-use of plastic, and “vocal for local” while making purchases of consumer items during this festive season.

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