In his first meeting with the new Council of Ministers on Thursday evening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi underlined the importance of disseminating the message of remaining cautious about Covid-19 as the threat is “far from over”.
Addressing the ministers, sources said, the PM said that “over the past few days, we all have been seeing pictures and videos of crowded places and people roaming about without masks or social distancing”, and that it is “not a pleasant sight and it should instil a sense of fear in us”.
“Powered by our Covid warriors and frontline workers, India’s fight against the global pandemic is under way with full vigour. We are steadily vaccinating substantial numbers of our nation’s population. Testing is also consistently high,” Modi said. However, “in such a time, there should be no space for carelessness or complacency” and a “single mistake would have far-reaching impacts and weaken the fight” against the pandemic.
Modi told his ministers that “with the numbers being less than what they were in recent months, people may want to venture out”, but “everyone must remember” that the threat is “far from over”.
“Many other nations are seeing surges in infections. The virus is also mutating.”
He advised the ministers that their aim “should not be to instil fear but to request people to keep taking all possible precautions so that we are able to move beyond this pandemic in the times to come”. Modi also expressed concern about the “persistently high number of cases coming from Maharashtra and Kerala”, sources said.
With 43 ministers being sworn in on Wednesday, many of them being given charge of ministries they have not handled earlier and many being first-time ministers, the PM suggested that they “take advice from their predecessors”.