People without masks at crowded places not pleasant sight, should instil sense of fear: PM Modi at council of ministers meeting

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday cautioned against any complacency in the fight against COVID-19, saying that over the past few days there have been pictures and videos of crowded places and people roaming about without masks or social distancing and "it should instil a sense of fear in us," sources said.

They said the Prime Minister noted that people not following COVID-19 protocols was not a "pleasant sight".

The Prime Minister chaired the first meeting of his expanded council of ministers on Thursday.

"Over the past few days, we all have been seeing pictures and videos of crowded places and people roaming about without masks or social distancing. This is not a pleasant sight and it should instil a sense of fear in us," the Prime Minister said, according to sources.

The Prime Minister stressed that powered by the country's COVID warriors and frontline workers, India's fight against the global pandemic is being fought with full vigour.

He said the country is steadily vaccinating a substantial number of its population and testing is also consistently high.

He emphasised that there should be no space for carelessness or complacency in such a time and noted that a single mistake would have far-reaching impacts and weaken the fight to overcome COVID-19.

According to sources, the Prime Minister said that with the number of cases being lesser than what they were in the recent months, people may want to venture out.

He said everyone must remember that the threat of COVID-19 is far from over, many other nations are seeing surges in infections and the virus is also mutating.

"As ministers, our aim should not be to instil fear but to request people to keep taking all possible precautions so that we are able to move beyond this pandemic in the times to come," the Prime Minister said, according to sources.

He also expressed concern at the persistently high number of cases coming from Maharashtra and Kerala, the sources added.

The Prime Minister carried out an expansion and reshuffle of his cabinet on Wednesday.

( With inputs from ANI )