As India continues to grapple with a rapid rise in COVID-19 infections, Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday underscored the need for people fully abiding by COVID-19 protective behaviour norms.
“The nation cannot be under lockdown for long. People should adapt themselves to the new situation,” he said while addressing the media here via a Google Meet session from New Delhi.
The Vice-President emphasised the need for people remaining physically fit and mentally strong to combat the virus.
“No matter how busy you are, you should make yoga, exercises and meditation part of your daily lifestyle,” he said in his maiden interaction with reporters after the outbreak of the pandemic.
Stating that even journalists are COVID-19 warriors, he announced that he would personally offer ₹50,000 to the families of six journalists from Nellore who succumbed to COVID-19 recently. He wanted the media to step up awareness on the much-needed behavioural change among people.
“Information with confirmation is ammunition,” he quipped while praising The Hindu for providing credible news. Going down the memory lane and recalling his association with eminent yesteryear scribes, he said that people would say a reporter working for The Hindu would report news only after double-checking its veracity, which was why the newspaper enjoyed such credibility.
He expressed happiness over noted singer S. P. Balasubrahmanyam making a steady recovery.
Mr. Venkaiah Naidu noted that except for agriculture, all sectors of the economy had witnessed a downturn during the pandemic. The efforts of the farmers to increase production despite the challenges were commendable, he said.
The Vice-President promised to talk to officials concerned about the problems faced by farmers from the district in marketing horticulture and other farm produce during lockdown. The Centre had evolved a concrete action plan for construction of godowns, cold storage facilities and food processing units, he said.
Reiterating that he was not against learning English, he said that it should not be at the cost of Telugu. Children learn better in their mother tongue, he said.
