While Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is leading the fight against coronavirus to prevent its spread in the UP and provide relief to the needy, Bharatiya Janata Party state organising secretary Sunil Bansal has been holding the fort at the party level. He has been asking party workers to work at the grassroots level and ensure that no one sleeps hungry.
Here are excerpts of the interview with him.
Pioneer: The BJP government is doing its bit to control coronavirus. What is the BJP organisation doing? Have you directed BJP workers to tell people about prevention and control of spread of the virus.
Bansal: Yes, party workers were issued directives after the lockdown was imposed. We have told leaders and workers to go to the people and make them aware of the virus and preventive measures to keep it away. Medical guidelines are being followed in letter and spirit. Party workers have also been asked to contribute generously to the Covid Care Fund.
Pioneer: This is a contagious disease and you are saying that party workers are interacting with people. Is it not dangerous?
Bansal: The guidelines issued to workers are clear – maintain social distancing, use mask and wash hands frequently. They are not holding meetings and are only telling people at village level about preventive measures.
Pioneer: That means the workers have been asked to tell people to use mask.
Bansal: That’s correct. If they do not have mask they can use gamchha or women can use dupatta to cover their faces. The basic point is that one should not touch the mouth and nose regularly.
As we speak, our woman workers are stitching masks at homes. They have stitched and distributed more than one lakh masks. These are not medical but cotton masks which can be used. These are being distributed free to the people.
Pioneer: BJP is a big party with over a crore of members in the state. How is it coping up with the lockdown and what are the party workers doing during this period.
Bansal: Party workers have been asked to arrange food for the needy, open community kitchens in wards and blocks.
Pioneer: Are you monitoring whether BJP leaders and workers are actually helping people?
Bansal: Yes, we are doing it over phone or through video-conferencing. We also ask people to send photos and cross-check them from others. I can guarantee that the BJP workers are working at the grassroots level with ‘sewa bhav’.
