India fighting Covid with all its might: PM Modi

New Delhi: Asserting that India is fighting Covid-19 with all its might, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday spoke to a number of people ranging from those engaged in transporting medical oxygen to lab technician, and said the country's resolve to prevail over the virus is equal to the magnitude of the challenge it faces.

In his monthly Mann ki Baat broadcast, Modi noted that the country was also faced with several natural disasters, including cyclones, landslide and earthquakes, during the pandemic, and said more lives were saved than the past with the Centre, States and local administration coming together to carry out relief and rescue operations.

With the demand for medical oxygen rising exponentially during the recent surge in Covid-19 cases and many States and hospitals complaining of its shortage, the prime minister said the production of the liquid medical oxygen (LMO) has risen by over 10 times to nearly 9,500 MT daily from 900 MT earlier.

"The demand for oxygen surged all of a sudden. This was a very big challenge, and delivering medical oxygen to remote parts of the country was indeed a huge task," he said, noting that many plants manufacturing industrial oxygen were located in the eastern parts of the country and lauded those, including cryogenic tanker drivers, the oxygen express (train) crew and Air Force pilots, involved in its transportation.

In his address, he also praised farmers for generating record produce, and said the agricultural sector protected itself from the adverse effects of the pandemic to a great extent.

The farmers produced record output and the government procured a record amount of crops as well, he said, adding that farmers at several places got more than the minimum support price (MSP) for mustard.