Economy political system collapsing due to COVID-19 Raut

    Mumbai, Apr 28 (PTI) Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on
Wednesday said the economy, as well as social and political
systems in India, are "collapsing" due to the COVID-19 upsurge
which has set the country back by at least 20 years.
    Speaking to reporters, Raut said India was defamed
internationally due to the worsening COVID-19 scenario.
    Hailing the "Mumbai model" and Chief Minister Uddhav
Thackeray's efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus, Raut
called for the need to replicating this model elsewhere in the
country.
    "India has gone back by at least 20 years due to the
pandemic. I don't know how much forward it marched in the past
5-10 years, but the country's economy and social and political
systems have collapsed. Now only the struggle for existence is
on. We will have to put up a big fight to stand up again," the
Sena spokesperson said.
    He said the number of cases in Mumbai dipped due to
the imposition of a lockdown, and added that efforts are on
round-the-clock to bring the situation under control.
    "CM Thackeray is monitoring the situation at village
level too. State public health minister (Rajesh) Tope, Deputy
Chief Minister (Ajit Pawar)...each person, be it in the
government or administration, is working with a vigour," Raut
added.
    Terming the COVID-19 situation in the country
"serious", Raut said some states didn't conduct enough tests.
    He said big states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have
witnessed a sudden surge in COVID-19 cases, and West Bengal
too is seeing a rise.
    "But in a big city like Mumbai, we have seen, the
numbers have gone down to nearly half. The reason is (in
Maharashtra) the chief minister and the administration are
monitoring whether machinery is working at village-level or
not," Raut added.
    Mumbai on Tuesday reported 4,014 new COVID-19 cases,
taking its overall tally to 6,35,541, said an official.
    To a question about Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi
Vadra questioning the alleged hiding of COVID-19 numbers in
Uttar Pradesh, Raut said, "Priyanka Gandhi is (AICC) in-charge
of Uttar Pradesh. It is a big state with a huge population.
Reports coming from Lucknow, Kanpur or Ghaziabad indicate that
the situation is very serious. But we all will have to see how
we can help a state like Uttar Pradesh. PTI ENM
NSK NSK

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)