Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday urged leaders of all religions to work collectively to deal with the prevailing COVID-19 situation in the State, adding that a disease does not differentiate between any caste and religion.
He said all religious leaders should disseminate the message of social distancing and make people aware about the preventive measures being taken to prevent the spread of COIVD-19. While giving the mantra of 3-S, that is, 'Stay at Home, Social Distancing and Sanitation' to prevent the spread of Novel Corona Virus, he said that while ramping up its preparations to combat COVID-19, the State Government has placed order for 5 crore news masks.
Interacting with about 300 religious leaders including those of Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Jain etc of all districts of the State through video conferencing here, he urged the religious leaders that if any person has symptoms of COVID-19, then they should convince him/her to come forward and undergo necessary tests as this way the chain spreading corona virus could be broken. He patiently heard the suggestions of religious leaders and assured them that their sentiments would be duly taken care of.
Referring to the issue of religious gathering in Nizamuddin area of National Capital, he said there was nothing wrong to have such type of congregations as it was a routine event but they should have been more cautious in the wake of Corona virus threat.
He urged the people belonging to the community to remain quarantined irrespective of the fact that they were affected from Corona or not. In case of any symptoms, they should immediately contact the doctors and get all necessary tests done. He said that some people were not coming forward due to fear or social stigma but doing so they were endangering their own life as well as that of the others adding that strict action would be taken against such persons under the relevant act.
Khattar said the State Government had also taken a serious view of the incident of rumors being spread on the social media. He said that such rumour mongers would be taken to task and FIRs would be registered against them for spreading hatred in the society through fake messages.
He also urged the religious organizations to help the poor people in this time of crisis by engaging their followers in various social works like distribution of food items, ration etc. He said that these organizations should also contribute generously to the Corona Relief Fund set up by the State Government to effectively combat COVID-19. He also thanked various organizations that had contributed wholeheartedly to the fund.
