Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, 8 May, spoke to the chief ministers of four states, including Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray and Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin, amid the COVID-19 surge across the country.
The PM sought details about Maharashtra's fight against COVID and commended its effort in countering the second wave during the call, the Maharashtra CM's office said on Twitter.
"The Hon'ble CM requested more linkages in the procurement of oxygen for the state, gave information about several measures taken & plans to counter the third wave. The Hon’ble CM thanked the Hon’ble PM for continuous guidance & for accepting various requests made by the state," the CMO tweeted.
CM Thackeray also wrote to PM Modi on Saturday regarding vaccine supply, technical glitches on the CoWIN app, and the need to develop a state-level application for citizens' vaccination registration.
Apart from CMs of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, those of Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh – Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Jai Ram Thakur, respectively – also held conversations with the prime minister.
The Madhya Pradesh CM in a tweet said he informed PM Modi about his state's "continuously decreasing positivity rate and rapidly rising recovery rate."
Chouhan also spoke with the PM about the state government's measures to combat the virus.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed satisfaction with the efforts of the Madhya Pradesh government and assured all possible help from the central government," Chouhan tweeted in Hindi.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur, in a tweet in Hindi, also spoke about his telephonic conversation with the prime minister, saying that he updated him on what the state government is doing to provide oxygen to COVID patients, the status of hospital beds and the vaccination drive.
"Prime Minister Modi has assured all possible help to the state in its battle against the virus," Thakur said.
PM Modi also later held a telephonic conversation with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and noted details about the preparedness of the state government to deal with the pandemic, reported IANS.
The phone calls come as India continues to weather a devastating second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. On Saturday, the country reported 4,01,078 new coronavirus cases and 4,187 deaths.
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