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Centre to focus on economic revival, replaces daily health briefing with bulletins
In his 33-minute speech, PM Modi asked people to ensure that our lives do not revolve around the disease as they have been for the last 50-odd days.
The government has decided to suspend the daily health ministry briefings on Covid-19 till Sunday and issue health bulletins instead, a government official said on Tuesday signalling that the change was being made as part of a renewed effort to put the focus back on economic revival and self-reliance.
In his address, PM Modi announced a Rs 20 lakh crore financial package, underscored the need for the country to be self-reliant and also asked people to ensure that our lives do not revolve around the disease as they have been for the last 50-odd days.
The decision to suspend the health ministry briefing and replace it with a ministry bulletin is linked to this effort.
A government official told Hindustan Times that there had been a view that the focus should instead turn to resumption of economic activity, self-reliance and the financial package that would help the country achieve this objective.
There would be briefings but the focus would be on the Prime Minister’s self reliant campaign, financial package and the many achievements of India’s science and technology sector.
PM Modi had not spelt out the details of the financial package but left it to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to make the announcement over the next few days.
But PM Modi, who had launched a Make in India campaign, did speak extensively on making India self-reliant and asked people to go for products that are made in India rather than abroad.
A short PMO brief issued on his 33-minute address to the nation quoted PM Modi mentioning “self-reliant” and “self-reliance” no less than 10 times.
PM Modi underscored how the Covid-19 pandemic had taught everyone the importance of local manufacturing, local market and local supply chains. It was seen as a double barrelled reference to people turning to local products that were available in neighbourhood shops that have taken a hit earlier due to online shopping portals such as Amazon and Flipkart.
In his address, Prime Minister Modi stressed that self-reliance will prepare the country for tough competition in the global supply chain, and it is important that the country wins this competition. The package had been designed, he added, to encourage local manufacturing and will not only increase efficiency in various sectors but also ensure quality.
