Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Wednesday said the situation of COVID-19 pandemic is under control in the state despite a spike in cases owing to the arrival of residents from other parts of the country.

Addressing the virtual ‘Jan Samwad’ rally of Shimla parliamentary constituency, Thakur said people of the state were stranded in various parts of the country and it was the duty of the state government to ensure their safety.

“Therefore over 1.80 lakh residents were brought back from different parts of the country that led to a spike in Coronavirus cases. But still, the situation is fairly under control as the state government has made elaborate arrangements to ensure that the people arriving from other states are properly examined.

The returnees are kept in institutional or home quarantine as per their travel history and medical status,” he added.

He said even Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appreciated the Active Case Finding Campaign launched by the state government and even asked other states to follow the footsteps of the Himachal to effectively tackle the situation.

Thakur further stated that the Nation was safe and secure under the leadership of PM Modi and India had regained its old glory under his able leadership.

Even the leaders of the most powerful nations of the world have now acknowledged the strong leadership of PM Modi.

“Abrogation of Article 370 was possible due to the strong political will power and today India is one nation with one Constitution and one flag.

Similarly, the decision regarding Triple Talaq is also a historic one which has ensured the empowerment of Muslim women and checked their exploitation,” he said.

Chief Minister said the state government has completed two and a half years of its tenure on 27 May and this tenure of the government had been full of achievements and accomplishments.

He said that credit of this goes to each and every person of the state.

He lauded the passing of Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 by Union government and said the law provides Indian citizenship to migrant Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christians who had fled persecution from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan before December 2014.

“Corona pandemic has once again proved that the country was safe in the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and it was due to the political farsightedness of PM Modi that death rate due to Covid-19 is quite low as compared to most of the developed countries of the world,” he added.

Thakur also lauded PM Modi for announcing Rs 20 lakh crore economic package for revival of the economy of the country which has adversely affected due to the corona pandemic and said Himachal too had immensely benefited from this package.

“Under the Ujjawala Yojna, as many as 1.36 lakh free gas cylinders have been provided for the period of three months while 8.74 farmers of the state got Rs 2000 under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojna.

While Rs 500 each has been transferred to the accounts of 5.90 lakh eligible women under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna for the month of April, May and June,” he said.

Chief Minister’s Political advisor and state BJP general secretary Trilok Jamwal said around two lakh users have been connected through various modes of communication in this first virtual rally.