PM dials four CMs, takes stock of battle against pandemic

Keeping up his interaction with chief ministers over telephone to take stock of the pandemic situation in their states, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday spoke with the chief ministers of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh.

According to a statement from the Maharashtra CM’s Office (CMO), Modi applauded efforts made by the state in fighting the second wave during his conversation with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. Thackeray, meanwhile, wrote to the PM and urged that states be allowed to set up their own online platforms for vaccination and procure vaccines from manufacturers across the world.

“Thackeray requested the PM for more supply of oxygen for Maharashtra,” the statement said. It said that while thanking Modi for accepting some suggestions given by Maharashtra, Thackeray said: “The PM and the Centre have been guiding Maharashtra in the Covid battle…”

Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin, meanwhile, requested the Centre to enhance medical oxygen allocation to the state to 500 metric tonnes in his telephonic conversation with Modi. He assured that Tamil Nadu would stand by the Centre in the fight against coronavirus, while Modi assured Stalin that he would consider his request immediately, an official release in Chennai stated.

Modi, the release said, asked the Tamil Nadu government to continue testing for the virus on a massive scale and focus on monitoring mild coronavirus patients at home.

In his conversation with Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Modi expressed satisfaction about the state’s efforts to curb the infection rate, the CMO stated on Twitter. Chouhan “shared information about increasing rate of recovery in the state, Kill Corona Campaign, Corona Curfew, Corona Volunteers, temporary Covid Hospitals, cure by Yoga, Vaccination, installation of Oxygen Plants and other efforts,” the CMO said.

Himachal Pradesh CM Jairam Thakur also tweeted about his interaction with Modi.

With inputs from PTI