Covid-19 Crisis: PM Modi chairs the meeting of council of ministers
The council of ministers noted that the present pandemic crisis is a ‘once in a century crisis’ and has thrown a big challenge for the world.
In the aftermath of the second wave of covid-19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has chaired a meeting of the Union council of ministers on Friday to review the management of the ongoing crisis. The meeting was held to discuss the management of the pandemic and the availability of oxygen and medicines.
During the virtual meeting, the council of ministers addressed the situation arising out of the second wave of covid-19 in the country. They noted that the present pandemic crisis is a ‘once in a century crisis’ and has thrown a big challenge for the world.
At the meeting, the Prime Minister also assured that the whole government system is working in a united and rapid way, to fight this situation.
He urged the council ministers to stay in touch with people of their respective regions, help them and take feedback from them. He stressed the need to ensure that issues at the local level are promptly identified and addressed.
The council also reviewed all the efforts made in the last 14 months by the central and state governments and other institutions.
The meeting discussed the following things:
Central and state level co-ordination to tackle the crisis
Building up health infrastructure
Ramping up hospital beds, PSA oxygen facilities, etc.
Resolving issues in production, storage & transport of Oxygen
Tackling matters relating to the availability of essential medicines
Providing support measures to the vulnerable population in the form of provision of food grains and financial support to Jan Dhan account holders
During the meeting, India’s successful feat in producing the two vaccines- Bharat Biotech’s ‘Covaxin’ and SII’s ‘Covishield’ was pointed out. And it was also noted that there are many vaccine candidates in the pipeline, which is right now at the different stages of approval and induction.
The council of ministers also emphasized the importance of following safety guidelines like wearing a mask, keeping a physical distance of 6 feet, and washing hands frequently.