New Delhi: The biggest lesson the COVID-19 pandemic has taught India is to become self-reliant, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said while interacting with gram panchayat members.

He complimented them for describing social distancing in simple words 'Do Gaz Ki Doori' (maintaining distance of two yards) so that people can understand it easily.

"The biggest lesson COVID-19 has taught us is to become self-reliant," Modi said, underlining that it is now imperative that villages also become self-reliant for their basic needs.

The Prime Minister held the interaction on the Panhayati Raj Day. He also inaugurated e-Gram Swaraj portal and a mobile application on the occasion.

Modi said the coronavirus pandemic has thrown up new challenges which the country never faced before, but it also made people learn new things.

Applauding people for observing lockdown rules, the prime minister said it is because of them, the entire world today is talking about how India has responded to COVID-19 crisis.

Despite limited resources amid the coronavirus crisis, citizens are taking on this challenge instead of succumbing to difficulties, he said.

Prime Minister Modi also enumerated the measures that the government took to strengthen the rural sector like bringing the villages under the power network and boosting digital connectivity to the last mile.

The Prime Minister had said on Thursday that the commitment of the Panchayati Raj system in warding off the coronavirus challenge is an inspiration for everyone in the fight against this crisis.

“We are facing an unprecedented crisis in terms of the coronavirus, which is a threat to the entire humanity. All the countrymen are facing this crisis in a united manner,” Prime Minister Modi wrote in a letter to Panchayati Raj Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Thursday.

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