Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a meeting with several chief ministers on Monday morning and nine of them will speak to him on issues from another extension of the lockdown to an exit plan and how it should be implemented.
Chief ministers of all states are expected to be present at the meeting through video conferencing, the fourth between PM Modi and the CMs on the coronavirus pandemic since March 20, and nine of them will get to speak due to time constraints.
These are chief ministers of Meghalaya, Mizoram, Puducherry, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Bihar, Gujarat and Haryana.
The Prime Minister had talked about limited time at an earlier meeting and urged the CMs to feel free to either write to him or call him and promised to take into consideration their views.
The interaction between PM Modi and the chief ministers is expected to focus on the next move in India’s plan against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) as well as a graded exit from the 40-day lockdown.
Several states want restrictions under the national lockdown to be eased in regions that have not witnessed local outbreaks of Covid-19 amid demands for curbs to remain in place in hotspots.
Union health minister Harsh Vardhan said on Sunday there were 300 disease-free districts in the country and another 297 districts did not have any hotspots or small areas having more than five cases. He said only 127 districts in the country have Covid-19 hotspots or red zones.
“In the last one week, there are 66 districts from where no case has been reported and 56 districts from where no case reported in the past 14 days,” he said.
The Union health minister said this indicated that the disease has been contained largely to hotspots.
The states have said there should be a continued ban on mass gatherings; educational institutions must remain closed; interstate transport prohibited, except in cases of enabling the movement of migrant workers, and social distancing must be strictly observed.
However, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal indicated that ending the lockdown will not be easy and a top medical expert advising the Delhi government arguing for the extension of the lockdown beyond May 3.
Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope has also said the state will like to continue with the lockdown in containment zones in Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur and Thane – the major hubs of the disease.
The states are also expected to demand a financial package from the Centre, and an amendment to the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act.
Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar has written to the Prime Minister, seeking a “generous financial package” for Maharashtra, the worst-hit state, and enhancing the borrowing limit under the FRBM Act.
Another key issue expected to be discussed at the meeting is a clearer policy on migrant workers and the chief ministers of Rajasthan, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar are expected to seek relaxation on interstate transport for allowing stranded labourers to return home.
