Amid the spurting cases of coronavirus nationwide, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing the nation on Tuesday evening said that states should stress on creating micro-containment zones and lockdown should be the last refuge.
The Prime Minister then urged the citizens, especially the youths, to come forward to help the needy.
He also suggested forming small committees in their localities to create awareness about Covid protocols, following which, there will be no need to impose lockdown or designate containment zones.
Since last week India has been reporting over two lakh cases and states including the national capital are struggling with oxygen shortage to treat COVID infected patients.
PM Modi in a virtual meeting today urged the vaccine manufacturers to continuously scale up the production capacity to vaccinate the people in the shortest possible time.
Noting the second wave has come like a storm, PM Modi asserted that India has been making the cheapest vaccine and last when the first wave of the outbreak of the pandemic occurred the country was not equipped immediately, but with all the necessary infrastructure and resources, the virus can be contained so lockdown should be the last resort.
The government is ensuring that economy and livelihoods are least affected and with vaccinations, labourers will get them faster, the prime minister said, adding, "Request states to assure labourers to remain where they are. Assure them that they will be vaccinated where they are and they won't lose jobs".
Appreciating the efforts of state governments, healthcare workers, and all frontline workers, PM Modi said because of this team effort, India could launch world's biggest inoculation drive with two made-in-India vaccines.
