COVID-19: Mayawati asks govt to help rural populace

Lucknow, May 20 (UNI) Expressing concern over the COVID-19 situation in rural Uttar Pradesh, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Thursday asked the governments to “go beyond announcements” and help the “helpless and devastated” families.

In a tweet in Hindi on Thursday, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said, “In rural areas of UP, coronavirus is rapidly infecting people and killing them. People are forced to do the last rites of the victims without proper rituals. For extending every kind of help to such desolate poor and destitute families, the government should immediately move beyond mere proclamations and become active”.

She said according to government claims, cases of coronavirus infection are decreasing in the country, which is a matter of some relief, but the number of deaths from coronavirus is increasing. “Whatever the reason may be, this is a very sad situation for which honest efforts are most important at all levels,”‘ Mayawati added.

A rapid surge in COVID-19 cases has been reported in the rural parts of India recently. On May 16, the Centre issued guidelines for the containment and management of coronavirus spread in peri-urban, rural and tribal areas to strengthen primary level healthcare infrastructure at all levels.

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