Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said today that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had set the tone for global COVID collaboration. Addressing the inaugural session of two-day International Workshop on “COVID-19- Good Governance Practices in a Pandemic”, jointly organized by Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Ministry of External Affairs and National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG), Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the extraordinary foreign outreach of Prime Minister Modi in the last six years has greatly helped in forging such an international collaboration against the pandemic.
Dr. Jitendra Singh said, it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who gave a wakeup call to the world to fight this challenge by implementing an early nationwide Lockdown, despite only a few cases of infection in India at that time. He said that the foresight and vision of the Prime Minister helped India to fight the pandemic in an effective manner and the same was emulated by many other countries. Dwelling on the theme of mutual international cooperation, Dr, Jitendra Singh said, Modi was not only instrumental in creating a COVID-19 Emergency Fund with a commitment of 10 million US Dollars, but also addressed the pandemic issue at SAARC, NAM, G-20 and other platforms, besides engaging with the Heads of Government and States on individual basis.
The Minister said that a package of over Rs 20 lakh crore under Atmanirbhar Bharat announced by Modi is around 10 percent of India’s GDP and was one of the highest in the world to overcome the challenges of the pandemic. He reiterated that India will be an important pillar of the post – COVID global economic recovery. He said that the roadmap ahead for nations in winning the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic lies in restarting the economy and strengthening cooperation. He said that the thrust is for stronger institutions, stronger e-Governance models, digitally empowered citizens and improved healthcare.
Dr. Jitendra Singh also said that team work, compassion and statesmanship have defined India’s governance in response to COVID-19 pandemic and it withstood the governance challenge with a robust digital framework. The road ahead focuses on “Do Gaj Doori” or social distancing, which has now become a global norm, he added. In his address, Minister of State for External Affairs, V. Muraleedharan said that developing countries were hit hard by this pandemic due to its limited resources and health and medical infrastructure. The two-day Conference is being attended by 184 participants comprising diplomats, civil servants and health experts from 26 Countries spread over South Asia, South East Asia, Latin America and Africa.
The inaugural session was attended by Dr. Kshatrapati Shivaji, Secretary, DARPG and DPPW, Government of India, V. Srinivas, Additional Secretary, DARPG and Director General, National Centre for Good Governance, Devyani Khobragade, JS, Ministry of External Affairs and other senior officials from Government of India.