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PM Modi asks ministers to list priority areas once lockdown ends

Hindustan Times, New Delhi | By
Apr 06, 2020 11:56 PM IST

The PM also stressed that it was high time that India lessened its dependence on other countries while interacting with the ministers via video-conference.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday emphasised on the dire need to ensure the welfare of farmers and the poor while urging his Council of ministers to list 10 major decisions and an equal number of priority areas after the ongoing 21-day nationwide lockdown, which has been enforced since March 25 to contain the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), is lifted.

The PM also stressed that it was high time that India lessened its dependence on other countries while interacting with the ministers via video-conference. He asked the departments to maintain an objective index about how their work can promote the Make in India initiative.

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Modi urged the ministers to make sure the ongoing nationwide lockdown measures and social distancing norms are strictly adhered to. He asked the ministers to prepare a list of 10 major decisions and an equal number of priority areas after the lockdown ends.

He lauded the feedback provided by the ministers to tackle the Covid-19 outbreak.

He said it is important that leaders communicate exhaustively with the state and district administrations, especially in those districts that have emerged as hotspots for the pandemic, and apprise him on the ground situation on a regular basis. It is also important to ensure there is no crowding at public distribution system (PDS) centres, maintain effective monitoring, take strict action against complaints and prevent black marketing and rise in prices of essential commodities, he said.

Modi said the welfare of farmers held the key. He said the government would provide all possible help to farmers during the harvesting season. He suggested harnessing technology and encouraging exploration of innovative solutions such as using “truck aggregator” to connect farmers with mandis on the lines of app-based riding hailing cab services. He underlined the need to devise a strategy to ensure the procurement of tribal products in a bid to ensure the source of income of the country’s tribal populations isn’t affected.

The PM stressed on the importance of ensuring that the benefits of PM Garib Kalyan Yojana continues to reach the intended beneficiaries. There should be a continuous monitoring mechanism to maintain timelines of production of essential medicines and personal protective equipment (PPE).

The PM is seized of the pandemic’s impact on the economy and appealed that the government must work on a war footing to lessen the aftershocks. He urged the ministries to prepare a Business Continuity Plan to tide over the crisis. He suggested that a graded plan to slowly open government departments, in non-hotspot zone, as he hoped that the crisis offers an opportunity to become self-dependent in the medical sector.

He asked the ministers to submit actionable suggestions on boosting manufacturing and exports and ensure that new sectors and countries are added to India’s export net. He also asked the ministers to promote the Aarogya Setu app in rural areas.

The ministers praised the #9pm9minute initiative, saying that people from all corners of the country participated in it on Sunday evening, according to an official statement.

They apprised the PM about the efforts to tackle difficulties faced by migrant labourers, prevention of misuse of social media to create panic, maintenance of supply lines of essential items, health hazards faced by frontline workers against the pandemic and efforts to mitigate them, it added.

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