*Pandemic taught India to become self-reliant
Modi calls for ‘Do Gaz Ki Doori’, face masks
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 24: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today called upon the Panchayat representatives of Jammu and Kashmir to spread the message of ‘Do Gaz Ki Doori’ (social distancing) to defeat Coronavirus and said the hard work done by them will help them celebrate Ramzan festival, beginning tomorrow, in a befitting manner.
The Prime Minister was interacting with Gram Panchayat members via video conferencing to mark Panchayati Raj Diwas today. He began the interaction by speaking to Mohammad Iqbal, Chairman of Block Development Council (BDC) Narwav, Baramulla district in Kashmir valley.
“You have been working on the ground by visiting different villages. It is the result of this (the success achieved in the area where Coronavirus situation was well under control),’’ Modi said.
He called upon Iqbal to spread the message of ‘Do Gaz Ki Doori’ (social distancing) saying entire Jammu and Kashmir should learn from him.
“You have understood the problem (of Coronavirus) and have observed rules (like social distancing, tracing people with travel history etc) and it was the result of this that you have achieved success in your area,’’ the Prime Minister said.
Congratulating the people on holy month of Ramzan, beginning tomorrow, he said with your hard work, the people will celebrate the festival of Ramzan in a befitting manner. “You have done a great service,’’ he said lauding the efforts of Iqbal in keeping the block virtual Corona-free.
Modi again made mention of Iqbal in his speech saying his slogans of ‘Respect & Suspect Elders’ should be followed and the people shouldn’t forget ‘Do Gaz Ki Doori’ (maintaining social distancing), covering face with masks and regular hand washing in the days to come saying this is the only medicine (to defeat Coronavirus).
“Summer has come and Monsoon is coming, These seasons also bring some diseases with them. People need to remain alert from Corona and these diseases,’’ the Prime Minister said.
In his opening remarks, Iqbal while welcoming Modi and congratulating him on the Panchayats Day said in his block there has been 100 percent implementation of all directions and advisories issued by the Government on ground.
“We had made preparations for lockdown in advance. Our Block Medical Officer (BMO), ICDS and ASHA workers and Panchayat representatives visited all houses in the villages to aware people about preventive measures for COVID-19,’’ Iqbal said.
Asserting that his block had just one Corona positive case, Iqbal said it was the result of the fact that all local workers, officials and people themselves traced the people with travel history and subjected them to home quarantine and sample testing, which was successful in defeating Coronavirus.
He said the Panchayat Representatives also worked round-the-clock to make lockdown successful.
“We worked on two slogans, ‘Respect All, Suspect All’ and ‘Stay Home, Stay Safe’ and with this 99 percent situation in our block is under control,’’ he added.
Meanwhile, applauding people for their grit in fighting the COVID-19 outbreak, Modi said the biggest lesson the pandemic has taught India is to become self-reliant and complimented rural India for defining social distancing in simpler words, ‘Do Gaz Ki Doori’, to make people understand its importance.
Modi said skills and knowledge of people are put to test during the time of a crisis, but India’s villages have displayed the best of their efforts to fight the pandemic.
“With its simple mantra of Do Gaz Ki Doori (maintaining distance of two yards), rural India has described social distancing in simple words, villages have showcased the best of their principles, traditional values to fight Coronavirus,” Modi, who had covered his face with a ‘gamcha’ while interacting with Gram Panchayat members via video conference, said.
He said the pandemic has thrown up new challenges which the country never faced before, but it also made people learn new things.
“The biggest message COVID-19 has given, the biggest lesson it has taught is to become self-reliant,” Modi said, underlining that it is now imperative that villages also become self-reliant for their basic needs.
Every Gram Sabha, every block and every district needs to be self-reliant for its basic needs, he added.
Applauding people for observing lockdown rules, the Prime Minister said it is because of them, the entire world today is talking about how India has responded to the COVID-19 outbreak.
“COVID-19 is a huge crisis for the world but people of India have shown grit in this fight. We are fighting this and we are moving ahead with new ideas to tackle the virus,” the Prime Minister asserted.
Despite limited resources amid the Coronavirus crisis, citizens are taking on this challenge instead of succumbing to difficulties, he pointed out.
Heads and members of gram Panchayats from across the country shared their experiences in handling the crisis and conveyed to the Prime Minister that people are religiously following the lockdown.
Modi said, “Coronavirus pandemic has really changed the way we work.” He said earlier such programmes were held where people used to meet in person. But now events are being held via video conference, he said.
He said there was a time when less than 100 gram Panchayats were connected to broadband. Now, over 1.25 lakh gram Panchayats have broadband, he said while talking about various initiatives taken by his Government for development of the villages.
Prime Minister Modi also launched the e-Gram Swaraj Portal and Mobile App to make the operations of Gram Panchayats digital. The unified portal is a new initiative of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj to provide the village Panchayats with a single interface to prepare and implement their gram Panchayat development plan (GPDP).
He also launched the Swamitva Scheme on the occasion, which provides for an integrated property validation solution for rural India.
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