Sarpanches should lead coronavirus free village movement: Maha CM

Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday appealed to sarpanches to become the guardian of their villages to transform the “corona-free village” concept into a people”s movement.

In a meeting held virtually with the village heads from the Nashik, Konkan and Pune divisions, Thackeray said the threat of coronavirus is far from over and that mistakes committed during the first and second waves of the pandemic should not be repeated.

“Everyone should come forward to make their village, taluka, district free of coronavirus. If all unitedly focus on this goal, the day is not far when the COVID-19 will be eradicated from Maharashtra. This should become a people”s movement,” he said.

Former Hivrebazar sarpanch Popatrao Pawar, who also participated in the meeting, said Maharashtra has witnessed several people”s movements and it is time again to get our act together.

The chief minister recently lauded efforts made by some villages to stem the spread of the viral infection and announced the “My Village Corona Free” initiative.

With rural parts of Maharashtra more in the grip of coronavirus compared with urban areas, the state government had last week announced a “corona free village” contest.

As of Sunday, Maharashtra”s COVID-19 tally stood at 58,31,781 and the death toll was 1,00,130. The state had 1,85,527 active cases as of Sunday, as per the state health department.