Published On : Thu, Mar 26th, 2020

Kudos to Uddhav Thackeray to adopt several measures to tackle the Covid-19

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Nagpur/Mumbai: It seems that the Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is working hard to tackle the deadly virus of Covid-19 by adopting several measures, including lockdown and engaging healthcare services for 24X7, along with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Uddhav Thackeray, who took the rein of the state, for the first time, has left everyone surprised with the way he’s been handling the coronavirus crisis in the state where the positive cases reached to 124.

He asked people to stop using the air conditioning systems at home and urged them to go for natural ventilation instead of using air conditioning. “Air conditioning will bring cooling, moisture and humidity. Instead, go for natural ventilation. Let’s breathe more fresh air,” he said.

Thackeray also said that when people ask him what is he doing in the present situation, he says ‘I listen to Mrs Mukhyamantri, you listen to your home minister’. “There is a positive side to this crisis as well,” the chief minister pointed out, saying families have come together and are spending time with each other.
The chief minister also appealed to the police from refraining from high handedness with the common people during the lockdown situation across the state. There are reports that the policemen confused by mixed signals from the political brass in the state disrupted essential services for citizens in many parts of Maharashtra as people found it difficult to reach their workplaces. An angry Chief Minister Thackeray called up the state DGP Subodh Jaiswal and asked him to rein in the police force who were randomly beating up people or stopping people in the state who were out on the roads. The beatings lead to a shutdown of several essential services like medical stores, grocery shops, food delivery service and even vegetable markets as employees could not step out of their homes due to the police action. In a late Tuesday television address, the CM asked the police machinery not to stop people involved in essential services as that could hurt the state.

From a reluctant politician, Thackeray has emerged as a general leading the fight against Covid-19. When he took over as chief minister in November 2019, Uddhav was dismissed in conversations as a “puppet in the hands of Sharad Pawar”. But in these trying times, his calm demeanour is helping keep the panic down, say his worst critics.

As a first-time government functioning with no experience he has earned him many admirers for tackling the Covid-19. Thackeray is being assisted by an experienced team at the Chief Minister’s Office and his son Aaditya, who is also a minister in the cabinet.

However, the coming 10 days are more crucial as the Covid-19 can spread more across the state. The real challenge before the healthcare personnel would be to prevent the virus from community transmission. And if the government succeeds in this regard in coming days, it would certainly be an example for other states. Here his real test would be tasted!