Flagging off the chariots, CM Vijay Rupani said that these raths will strengthen the Gujarat government’s resolution to defeat coronavirus. (File)Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, on Monday, virtually flagged off five Covid-19 Vijay Raths (chariots) in five districts of the state – Ahmedabad, Bhuj, Banaskantha, Surat and Junagadh – which will raise awareness about Covid-19 along with five different welfare schemes of the Central government across the state, stated an official release from the state government on Monday.
The Covid-19 Vijay Raths is a project of the Press Information Bureau (PIB) in partnership with Gujarat University and the UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) that will cover all 33 districts of the state in the next 44 days, covering a span of 60 kilometre everyday. Apart from raising awareness about Covid-19 and Central government schemes, it will also felicitate the people who have defeated coronavirus.
Additional Director General of PIB, Dhiraj Kakadiya, said that each rath will have four to five attendants. Three of these attendants will be artists registered with the government who will spread awareness about Covid-19 and the Centre’s schemes in various manners. During the 44-day journey, workers on the chariots will also distribute masks and immunity boosters to people.
Flagging off the chariots, CM Rupani said that these raths will strengthen the Gujarat government’s resolution to defeat coronavirus. He added that with the intense efforts of the Gujarat government and cooperation from people of Gujarat, the recovery rate in the state has reached 82% and the death rate has come down to 2.9% from 7%.
The CM said that the rate of positivity in Gujarat is between 3.5% and four percent against eight-nine percent of the country.