COVID Review Meeting: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday held a review meeting with the Chief Ministers of the states amidst the concern spread over the increasing cases of Corona.
During this, PM Modi said that we have better control over Corona than other countries, but the challenge of Corona is not completely over yet. The kind of serious situation that Omicron and its all variants can create, we can see in the countries of Europe.
Cases from these variants have increased in the last few months. So we have to be alert. In the meeting, PM Modi also raised the issue of inflation of petrol-diesel and appealed to the states to give relief to the people by reducing VAT.
PM Modi said in the meeting through video conferencing that we have to be alert to the increasing cases over the last 2 weeks. Within 2 years, the country has done what is necessary on every front related to Corona, from health infrastructure to oxygen supply.
This is the reason that there was no news of uncontrolled conditions in the third wave. He said that during the third wave, we saw more than 3 lakh cases every day. All our states also handled them.
Gave impetus to all other social and economic activities. The way the Center and the states worked together during the Corona period, and who played an important role in the country's fight against Corona, I admire all the Corona Warriors.
According to news reports, the Prime Minister said that our scientists and experts are continuously monitoring the national and global situation. Stopping the infection at the very beginning was our priority as well, it should remain the same even today.
We have to implement our strategy of testing, tracking, and treatment equally effectively. It should be ensured that the work of upgrading the infrastructure continues at a fast pace.
We are in a much better position to have facilities like beds, ventilators and PSA oxygen plants, but we also have to ensure that these facilities remain functional.
PM Modi counts figures on vaccination
PM Modi said that today 96% of the adult population of India has received the first dose of the vaccine. About 85% of the people above the age of 15 have had a second dose.
In March, we started immunization for 12-14-year-olds. On Tuesday, permission has also given for the vaccine for children aged 6-12 years. Apart from this, preconception dosage is also available for all adults in the country.
PM appeals to states to reduce excise duty
The PM also talked about the inflation of petrol and diesel during the meeting. He said that to reduce the burden of rising prices of petrol and diesel, the Central Government had reduced the excise duty last November.
The states were also urged to reduce the tax here. Some states have reduced the tax here, but some states did not give their benefits to their people.
Taking the names of the states, the PM said that Maharashtra, West Bengal, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Jharkhand, and Tamil Nadu did not obey the central government for one reason or the other and the citizens of those states continued to be burdened.
He told the Chief Ministers that I pray that now by reducing VAT, the citizens should benefit from it.