Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation through his monthly radio programme Mann Ki Baat on Sunday as the country battles the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. It will be the 77th episode of the show and will be streamed live at 11am on PM Modi's official YouTube channel, as well as on PMO. It will also be broadcast in regional languages immediately after the Hindi broadcast on All India Radio. The regional language versions will be repeated at 8 in the evening.
This comes as India is in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis and the Centre is facing massive criticism by the opposition parties over the handling of the pandemic and the shortage of Covid-19 vaccines. Several states including Delhi and Maharashtra, have halted their vaccination drive for people in the age group of 18 to 44. Citing vaccine shortage.
Earlier, the Indian Medical Association (IMD) appealed to PM Modi to speak on the importance of vaccination to motivate beneficiaries in the upcoming Mann Ki Baat episodes.
In the last episode of Mann Ki Baat, PM Modi spoke to healthcare workers at the forefront of the fight against Covid-19 and addressed several topics such as vaccine hesitancy. The Prime Minister also spoke to an ambulance driver Prem Verma as he lauded the efforts of other frontline workers such as lab technicians.
On reports of people testing positive for the coronavirus disease even after receiving the vaccine, PM Modi said that if someone is vaccinated, they may get infected but the severity of the disease will not be that high.
{{/usCountry}}On reports of people testing positive for the coronavirus disease even after receiving the vaccine, PM Modi said that if someone is vaccinated, they may get infected but the severity of the disease will not be that high.
{{/usCountry}}He also said that the ongoing second wave of Covid-19 is testing our patience and capacity to bear the pain. "I am speaking to you at a time when Covid-19 is testing our patience and capacity to bear the pain. Many of our loved ones left us untimely. After successfully tackling the first wave, the nation's morale was high, it was confident but this storm (second wave) has shaken the nation," PM Modi said.