Thiruvananthapuram, March 19 (IANS) In a show of unity to fight the raging COVID-19, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Leader of opposition Ramesh Chennithala on Thursday jointly through a video conference addressed the people’s representatives at over 1,000 local bodies and urged them to see that all safe practises to prevent the spread of coronavirus be taken.
Also present on the occasion was State Local Self Government Minister A.C. Moideen.
The three came live on the state run educational TV channel — Victers TV.
Kerala has so far recorded 24 positive cases and over 26,000 people are under observation in homes or hospitals.
“There need be no pain or fear over COVID-19, instead we all should realise the potential dangers if we do not treat this with caution. It’s here that the role of the local self government’s and the representatives of people come into play.
“All of you should ensure that the directives of the state government be adhered to and utilise the services of the numerous volunteers engaged in pain and palliative care,” said Vijayan.
The Chief Minister said that special focus will be given to the poor and disadvantage sections of the society. “Special care should see that the members of the SC/ST and the tribal communities are given all the support in this time of crisis.
“Another section which requires to be taken care is the huge migrant labour community. There have been some unpleasant news of foreign tourists being ill-treated and it should never happen as it does not go down well with our tradition,” said Vijayan.
He further said, “It’s the responsibility of the local bodies to list out all places where in the case of an emergency affected people can be accommodated. This is a crisis period and at this time, all should act as one and we should all put aside our political differences and work for the good of our society,” added Vijayan.
Chennithala in his address said that this is something where there has been no medicine at all and even science has no cure.
“Hence, the only thing that we can pursue is to see that we maintain a high level of caution and see that all the protocols of the state government be adhered strongly. Also we should ensure there should be all the emotional support that is provided to those in isolation,” said Chennithala.
–IANS
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