New Delhi,May 11:Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday chaired a fresh round of consultation with chief ministers on ways to strengthen the Covid-19 containment strategy and stepping up of economic activities in a calibrated manner as the 54-day nationwide lockdown nears an end.
The large-scale movement of migrant workers from urban to rural India and the problems their return to home states may cause in restarting the economy was also being discussed during the fifth virtual interaction between the prime minister and chief ministers since the outbreak of the deadly virus in the country.The interaction is attended by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman and Health Minister Harsh Vardhan among others.
There will be an effort to ensure that all participating chief ministers get an opportunity to air their views during the interaction, as some of the CMs had complained that they were not allowed to put forth their views during the last interaction on April 27.Due to this the meeting is expected to continue till 9.30 pm with a scheduled 30-minute break at 6 pm.India will have to devise and implement a “balanced strategy” to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, and the biggest challenge for the country will be to ensure that the infection does not spread to villages, Prime Minister NarendraModi told chief ministers on Monday during a video conference.Appreciating the role played by the states in the fight against the pandemic, Modi said the entire world is of the view that India has been able to successfully protect itself from the pandemic, according to official sources.The prime minister conveyed to the chief ministers that a “balanced strategy will have to be adopted for the road ahead, and what path and the direction the country” should adopt could be determined on the basis of the suggestions by the states, sources said.The “problems” have increased wherever the social distancing norms were not followed or there has been laxity in implementation of the lockdown guidelines, Modi told the chief ministers.PM Modi said the biggest challenge would be to ensure that the disease does not spread to villages across the country after relaxations provided by the government.
Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa proposed that the district-wise classification of Red, Orange and Green Zones be done away with. He said that only containment zones should be identified and strictly cordoned off and a perimeter of 50-100 meters around known clusters may be declared as containment zones. He suggested that commercial activities including public transport should be allowed in non-containment zones.Yediyurappa also said that domestic and international travel should not be permitted at least until the end of May.He also requested the Centre to determine the minimum number of tests per million to be carried out in each state.
Delhi chief minister ArvindKejriwal recommended that economic activity should be allowed to resume everywhere in the national capital except containment zones.Assam has asked that the lockdown be extended for two more weeks and that inter-state movement is stopped.Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray said that the Centre should devise a lockdown policy carefully as cases are expected to peak in June-July. He asked Prime Minister NarendraModi to show “specific and concrete direction” on the ongoing lockdown.Thackeray said that deployment of the Central forces will give rest to police personnel in Maharashtra who are exhausted due to Covid-19 duty. The Maharashtra CM also requested PM Modi to start local trains in Mumbai for essential services staff working in the city.Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday urged that panchayats are involved in the fight against Covid-19.
Advocating a greater role for local bodies in the battle against the coronavirus, the chief minister said the Union government may modify existing schemes to incentivise and actively involve Panchayati Raj institutions in Covid-19 management.
Emphasising on the need for adopting a “decentralized mechanism” to strengthen the process of containing the spread of the coronavirus, the Odisha chief minister said a smaller area instead of an entire district should be classified as a red, orange or green zone on the basis of the severity of the disease.To revive economic activities, the Centre may come up with a standard operating procedure (SOP), Patnaiksaid.Chhattisgarh Chief Minister BhupeshBaghel said the Centre should allow state governments to decide on red, green, orange zones based on the severity of the coronavirus situation in areas under their jurisdiction.Baghel said state governments should be empowered to decide on which economic activities should be taken up amid the coronavirus-enforced lockdown.
He also sought a Rs 30,000-crore assistance for Chhattisgarh.Like health workers, the chief minister requested the PM to include employees and officials of the police department, municipal corporations, district administration and other departments under the PM GaribKalyan Package.
He also urged to increase 100 days of employment fixed under MGNREGA to 200 days.
West Bengal is being “unnecessarily targeted” over its handling of Covid-19, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told PM Modi, insisting she wants to fight the pandemic jointly with the Centre.
She also highlighted the “contradictions” in the Centre’s approach to tackling the outbreak.
“On one hand the Centre wants the lockdown to be enforced strictly, and on the other, it is resuming train services and reopening land borders,” she said.”We want to fight the pandemic alongside the central government. But Bengal has been unnecessarily targeted politically. Instead of shifting the onus on the states, the Centre should come out with a clear strategy on the way forward,” she told the meeting.Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh pitched for the extension of the coronavirus lockdown, but with a carefully crafted exit strategy backed by economic empowerment of states to save lives and secure livelihood.According to a release, he said the states should be given greater flexibility in micro-planning.The chief minister said micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) should be allowed to function in red zones with proper safeguards.Amarinder also demanded urgent financial assistance to states to meet at least 33 per cent of their committed liabilities, along with revenue grants for three months to meet the shortfall in revenue and fund expenditure on tackling coronavirus.He reiterated the demand for an immediate release of Punjab’s GST arrears of Rs 4,365.37 crore.Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao urged PM Modi not to resume the passenger train services at this juncture, saying allowing them would lead to movement of people and pose problems in testing them for Covid-19 and quarantining.
Rao strongly favoured allowing migrant workers to return to their native places, besides rescheduling the loans of states and raising Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar that his government is in agreement of extending the lockdown because once the lockdown is lifted, a large influx of people will come into the state and increase the risk of transmission.Citing increasing Covid-19 cases in Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister K Palaniswami on Monday came out against resumption of passenger train and air services in the state till May 31 and sought more PCR kits from the Centre to ramp up the ongoing aggressive testing.
Also, he referred to the requests he had made during the earlier video conference interactions such as Rs 2,000 crore special grant to the state to enhance available medical equipment.
Palaiswami said the state has also sought nod for additional borrowing of 33 per cent above the permitted level for 2019-20 be allowed for 2020-21 as well and release of pending GST compensation.Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Mohan Reddy asked for normalcy at the earliest. He said the stigma associated with coronavirus patients needs to be fought and till this fear is not fought we cannot move ahead in this battle against coronavirus.He not only wanted a relaxation of rules but demanded resumption of inter-state transport service. However, he stated that Andhra Pradesh requires Rs 16,000 crore immediately to fight Covid-19.Kerala chief minister PinarayiVijayan said states face different challenges and therefore should be given the freedom to make reasonable changes to lockdown guidelines.He added that states should be given the freedom to permit public transport, subject to restrictions based on the conditions of each state. “Metro rail service should be allowed in cities other than those in red zone,” he demanded.Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot suggested the launch of an employment guarantee scheme for urban areas on the lines of the MGNREGA.Gehlot said the lockdown has badly affected daily wagers due to which the Centre should come up with an employment generation scheme for the urban poor.
He said states should be given powers to decide coronavirus zones.The CM also demanded a financial package for industries and said the states’ borrowing limit should be increased.
Goa Chief Minister PramodSawant urged the Centre to lift curbs on inter-state public transport partially.He also demanded resumption of mining activity and tourism to kickstart the state economy.
Jharkhand Chief Minister HemantSoren on Monday raised the issue of financial distress being faced by his state due to the Covid-19 pandemic, seeking payment of GST compensation dues and allowing of special power to impose a tax on mining.Soren also requested the prime minister to expedite the return of migrants to their native states, especially Jharkhand, in a safe and secure manner, in the wake of the recent Aurangabad train mishap in which 16 workers were killed.
Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister PemaKhandu requested the Centre for TrueNat machines for quick Covid-19 testing as a large number of stranded people have begun returning to the northeastern state.Khandu also urged PM Modi to continue facilitating investments in the Northeast so the region’s economy is not compromised due to the pandemic.The prime minister had last interacted with the chief ministers last on April 27. Days after the meeting, the central government had extended the lockdown by two more weeks till May 17 to arrest the spread of the virus but gave several relaxations in economic activities and movement of people.The nationwide lockdown has been in force since March 25 to contain the spread of the virus, which has killed more than 2,200 people and afflicted more than 67,000 in the country.
