New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday addressed the nation through his monthly radio program ‘Mann Ki Baat’.
Here are the highlights:
* Covid-19 has been the biggest pandemic in the last 100 years and during this very pandemic, India has confronted many a natural disaster with fortitude.
* Meanwhile, there was cyclone Amphan and cyclone Nisarg. Many states had floods, there were minor and major earthquakes, there were landslides.
* People who led rescue and relief work deserve more appreciation than can be expressed. I salute all of them. My heart goes out to all people who have lost their near and dear ones.
* My dear countrymen, however big the challenge be, India’s victory-resolve, her Vijay-Sankalp has always been equal in magnitude. Her collective strength and our spirit of service have always rescued the country from the midst of every storm.
* Friends, when the second wave came, the demand for oxygen surged all of a sudden. This was a very big challenge. Delivering medical oxygen to remote parts of the country was indeed a huge task.
* Mothers and sisters would be proud to hear that one ‘Oxygen Express’ is being run fully by women. Every woman of the country will feel proud of that. Not just that, every Indian will feel proud.
* On the one hand, empty tankers are being flown to oxygen plants by Air Force planes, on the other, work on the construction of new oxygen plants too is being completed.
* Along with that, oxygen, oxygen concentrators and cryogenic tankers from abroad also are being brought into the country. That is why, in this task Navy, Air Force, Army and our institutions like DRDO are also involved.
* At the beginning of Corona, there was only one testing lab in the country, but today more than two and a half thousand labs are in operation.
* Initially, only a few hundred Covid tests could be conducted in a day, now over 20 lakh tests are being carried out in a single day.
* There are countless frontline workers engaged in the work of sample collection, going amidst infected patients, and taking their sample is an example of yeoman service.
* We have witnessed the dedication and hard work of our ‘Corona Warriors’ in the last one and a half years.
* Today, 800 million underprivileged denizens are being provided free ration in this hour of crisis.
* Even in this pandemic, our farmers have achieved record production. Farmers in many places have got more than the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for mustard.
* This time the jackfruit farmers of Agartala are exporting their produce to London from Guwahati. The Shahi Litchi of Bihar, which was given a GI Tag in 2018, is also being exported to London.
* Now, the Kisan Rail is ferrying hundreds of tons of Vizianagaram mangoes from South India to Delhi.
* The Kisan Rail has so far transported nearly 2 lakh tonnes of produce. The farmers are now able to send produce to remote parts of the country at a very low cost.
* A similar confidence has come to the country through the ‘Ayushman Yojana’. When the poor come home healthy with free treatment, they feel that they have got a new life.
* In the 7 decades after independence, only 3 and a half crore had water connections. Now, in 21 months, 4 and a half crore houses have been given water connections. Of these, 15 months were of Corona period.
* Today on 30th May we are having ‘Mann Ki Baat’ and incidentally, it also marks the completion of 7 years of government. Over these years, the country has followed the mantra of ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas, Sabka-Vishwas’.
*Today, the seriousness and awareness of countrymen towards cleanliness is increasing. We are also launching record satellites and constructing record roads too.
* In these 7 years, many old contestations of the country have also been resolved with complete peace and harmony.
* Friends, in these 7 years, India has worked to show the world a new direction in digital transactions. Today, you can make digital payments with absolute ease at any place; it is proving very useful even in this time of Corona.
* In the form of the Corona pandemic, we are being continuously put to test. This is a crisis that has plagued the whole world, so many people lost their loved ones.
* Even big countries were not spared from its devastation. India moving forward with resolve of ‘service & cooperation’.