New Delhi: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Friday urged the Governors & Lieutenant Governors and Administrators of the States & Union Territories to enhance awareness among the public, encourage the civil society organizations and guide the private sector to partner with the government in the fight against the COVID-19.
Interacting with the Governors & Lieutenant Governors of the States & Union Territories during a video conference called by President Ram Nath Kovind, the Vice President observed that as first citizens of their respective States, they were in a unique position to play a very creative role in this moment of national crisis by motivating and guiding their respective States and UTs.
“Your leadership is crucial and your guidance, facilitation and motivating ability can be most valuable,” he said.
Naidu wanted the Governors & Lieutenant Governors to motivate new partners such as at Universities, Kendriya Vidyalaya’s, other educational institutions and religious bodies to contribute to this urgent cause by freeing up spaces to allocate space for isolation wards for COVID-19 patients.
As chancellors of various universities, Naidu wanted them to explore the possibility of conducting online classes to complete the curriculum and ensure academic schedule was not disturbed.
He appealed to private hospitals to earmark some beds for COVID-19 patients and urged civil society organizations including the Red Cross to take up humanitarian assistance activities for the poor, elderly and sick members of our population.
The Vice President also urged the Governors and Lt Governors to involve religious and spiritual leaders, film and sports celebrities as also well known public personalities including literary giants in various languages and artistes to promote awareness to combat COVID-19.
Stating that the lockdown could have its economic impact on the people who were at the bottom of our social pyramid, the Vice President welcomed the Government of India’s announcement of a package of relief measures to mitigate the hardship to people and health workers.
The Governors of Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Haryana, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Telangana, Punjab, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Lt. Governor of Delhi and the Administrator of Chandigarh, and others participated in the Video Conference.
उपराष्ट्रपति श्री एम वेंकैया नायडू ने भारत के राष्ट्रपति श्री रामनाथ कोविंद के साथ वीडियो कॉन्फ्रेसिंग के जरिए विभिन्न प्रदेशों/UT के राज्यपालों/ उप-राज्यपालों से बात की तथा उनके प्रदेशों में कोरोना संक्रमण की रोकथाम के लिए लिए जा रहे प्रयासों के बारे में चर्चा की। pic.twitter.com/t5ZPZW8ws9
— Vice President of India (@VPSecretariat) March 27, 2020