Ranchi: Jharkhand Assembly Speaker Ravindra Mahto called on all the political parties to rise above their affiliations and contribute to building a new Jharkhand for which the present leadership has come forward and already initiated steps.
Addressing the inaugural day of the Monsoon Session he said when the first case of Coronavirus was detected in the month of December 2019no one would have imagined that it would take such a destructive shape and bring life to a halt. The experts at that time suggested lockdown as the best possible tool and the impact of the pandemic was so severe that it was defined as Corona period the speaker said adding it will have a long term impact on the human life as crores have been infected and lakhs have lost their lives due to the disease.
He said that it has been six months since all economic and educational activities have come to a stop and the entire world was passing through its worst phase. The fall in the GDP, rise in the prices of essential commodities and rising unemployment have emerged as very big challenges, he said adding that even the schools and colleges are shut and in the country where there was inequality in the number of schools the medium of online education has no meaning.
However, he said after destruction time has come for rebuilding where there was a need to put collective efforts. He said that when the time becomes favourable steps should be taken to fulfill the academic gap of the students and there was a need to also find out new job opportunities. He said that on many occasions human life has faced tough situations but every time it has emerged victorious.
The speaker also heaped praise on the state government for its active role in bringing the migrant workers back to their homes after the nationwide lockdown was declared in the country on March 25, 2020. He said that when lakhs had become jobless and homeless it was Chief Minister Hemant Soren who made sure that the first Shramik Special Train and first flight carrying migrant workers came to Jharkhand. Further, the state government also looked into the accommodation, food and health care needs of the migrants.
Mahto said that he was happy to note the fact that many of the MLAs who had been detected positive for Coronavirus have come back victorious and healthy. He said that to prevent the spread of the pandemic adequate arrangements has been made in the assembly both inside and outside with social distancing being maintained between seats of the MLAs. The Speaker said that despite the session being a short one all the legislators should try to make the most of its use.