New Delhi, January 29: President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday lauded the Central government for its "timely decision", during the onging COVID-19 pandemic, "that saved the lives of lakhs of citizens" and pointed out that the number of new coronavirus cases was going down rapidly in the country.

President Kovind, in his address to a joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament, paid tribute to those who succumbed due to the virus. "Joint sitting of Parliament amid Corona pandemic is essential. It's a new year, a new decade and we are also entering into the 75th year of independence. Today all MPs are present here with message and trust that however tough be the challenge neither we nor India will stop. In this fight against the pandemic, we lost many citizens. Former President Pranab Mukherjee passed away in this Corona period. Six MPs left us untimely due to COVID. I pay my tribute to all of them," he said. Union Budget 2021: PM Narendra Modi Says ‘This Decade Is Very Important for Bright Future of India’.

"I am satisfied that the timely decision taken by my Government saved the lives of lakhs of citizens. Today the number of new COVID cases is going down rapidly. The number of recoveries is very high," he added.

Commenting upon the vaccination drive against COVID-19 which started on January 26, President Kovind said, "It is a matter of pride that India is running the biggest vaccination programme in the world. Both vaccines of this programme are made in India. In this crisis, India shouldered its responsibility towards mankind and provided lakhs of doses of vaccines to several nations."

"We have seen huge benefits of the work done by my government in the last 6 years in the health sector during this corona crisis," President said that the facilities of Ayushman Bharat Yojana can be availed in any of the 24,000 hospitals across the nation. "The poor are getting medicines at very low costs at 7000 centres across the country, under Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana," he added.

The first part of the ongoing budget session will continue till February 15. The second part of the session will be held from March 8 to April 8. Rajya Sabha will function from 9 am to 2 pm and Lok Sabha from 4 pm to 9 pm with Zero Hour and Question Hour.

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