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Our Correspondent
Kohima, June 10 (EMN): Nagaland BJP President Temjen Imna Along on Thursday said that the People’s Democratic Alliance (PDA) government under the leadership of Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio has shown resilient and strong leadership in the fight against the pandemic.
‘The government has taken assertive steps of relieving the people of this tension of Covid-19 and taking care of the needs of the people in whatever possible manner it needs to be done,’ Along, who is also the minister of Higher Education and Tribal Affairs, said at a press conference in Kohima.
'No one can do it alone. We have to do it together. The PDA government belongs to you, to the people of Nagaland. Let us stand together assertively and be aware,’ he appealed.
While saying that BJP Nagaland's core objective was to serve people and create awareness, he asked everyone to be aware of the pandemic.
'If all the people of Nagaland are aware then the lockdown may not be completely there. But because we are not aware, we choose not to be aware. That's why a lockdown is imposed and government is forced to do so even though the state economy is in shambles,' Along said.
He went on to say that ‘we would be living with the Coronavirus pandemic for another few years. Therefore, it is better that people are aware about it’.
The minister further appealed all to be resilient and be united to win against this pandemic.
He welcomed and lauded the prime minister's announcement to extend the deadline of free food grains to below poverty lines by five more months, till November 2021. Over 800 million people, including in Nagaland will benefit from this free food grain, he added.
Such a gesture is "magnanimous" and "historic" and would go down in history as one of the most "kind-hearted PM and assertive government", he added.
As for the vaccination drive, Along said that people need to appreciate the efforts of the PM, ‘for taking overwhelming steps in populous country like India to make sure vaccines are made available to its citizens at free of cost’.
‘Free vaccines will go a long way in covering the whole population. 14% of the country's population have been covered with the first dose,’ he said, adding that the PM was ‘assertive enough that the whole country would be vaccinated by the end of this year’.
Spokesperson of BJP, Nagaland, Ngampa Konyak informed that the party has distributed over 42,000 masks, 12,620 litre of hand sanitisers, 16,780 food packets, and 6,760 immunity kits in May this year. He added that BJP Nagaland also conducted cleanliness drives in all the districts.
On the internal issue within the BJP Nagaland unit, Along said the party is a high-command BJP national party and the high command knows the best decision.
"As long as the high command authorises me to be the president, I am the president," he said.
He added that he still has respect for them (six districts' president) because they are "good workers" of BJP Nagaland. ‘But whether they are president or not, let them check it out on their own,’ he said.