India working towards self-reliance to emerge as strong player in post-COVID world: PM Modi

New Delhi [India], February 10 : India is working towards building an Aatmanirbhar Bharat to emerge as a strong player in the post-COVID world, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday.
In his reply to the motion of thanks on the President's Address in Lok Sabha, the Prime Minister said that sanitation workers, doctors, sweepers, ambulance drivers all came in the form of God and India could win against COVID-19.
"The post-COVID world is turning out to be very different. In such times, remaining isolated from global trends will be counter-productive. We will have to emerge as a strong player. That is why India is working towards building an Aatmanirbhar Bharat," PM Modi said.
"Today we can hear 'Vocal for Local' in every corner of India. People look for local. This sense of self-respect is working a lot for Aatmanirbhar Bharat," he added.
Lauding the efforts of frontline workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, PM Modi said, "Manish Tewari said that we stayed protected from Corona by God's grace. I would like to say something. This indeed is God's grace that the entire world shook but we remained safe. It was because doctors and nurses came as God because they couldn't return to their homes for 15 days."
"Doctors, sweepers, ambulance drivers all came in the form of God. Ambulance drivers knew that they are driving a COVID positive person, they came as a form of God," he added.
PM Modi said that the Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile trinity made a positive difference in people's lives during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Around Rs 2 lakh crore were sent to people during COVID-19 pandemic. It helped the poor and the marginalised. Unfortunately, people went to the court against Aadhaar," he said.
"Due to COVID-19 and lockdown, many countries of the world could not reach out to their people even after having pounds and dollars in their coffers. But India provided ration to over 75 crore Indians for 8 months during the pandemic," he said.