On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a fresh round of consultation with the Chief Ministers to discuss 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. This is the third phase of the pan-India lockdown that has been in place since March 25.
In the meeting with the Chief Minister, several state leaders urged the Centre to deploy central forces, provide economic support, delay train travel to their state and so on. So, what did the Chief Ministers say?
When Government of India has opened almost everything including opening of land borders, starting trains and opening airports, then what is the point in continuing with further lockdown, asked West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee
If needed, Maharashtra should be given central forces as police are under heavy pressure, said Chief Minister, Uddhav Thackeray
Economic activities should be allowed to resume in all parts of Delhi except containment zones, said Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal
State governments should get the right to take decisions on handling of economic activities, and the responsibility to declare red, green and orange zones in their states, said Chhattisgarh Chief Minister, Bhupesh Baghel
Don't resume the passenger train services, urged Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao
Extend lockdown with a carefully crafted strategy, backed by fiscal and economic empowerment of the states, suggested Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh
Don't permit train service up to May 31 in Tamil Nadu and don't begin regular air services till May 31, said Tamil Nadu CM Edappadi K Palaniswami
Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb sought GST collection from the Centre and urged the Prime Minister to connect the north east corridor by road to Bangladesh to accelerate trade.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy spoke about stigma associated with coronavirus and appealed to Centre to take another look at the current containment strategy and shift towards preparing people to live with the virus.
Facilitate investments in the Northeast and provide TrueNat machines for quick COVID-19 testing, urged Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren sought financial help for the state.
If lockdown is extended, farming sector and economic activites sould get relaxations, said Sikkim's Prem Singh Tamang
Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma batted for continuation of travel restrictions, as well as urging the Centre to allow states to define zones and containment areas.
All international travel should be held off until the end of may said Karnataka Chief Minister B. S. Yediyurappa
Lockdown should be extended, said Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yodi Adityanath
As of Monday evening, the country has recorded more than 67100 positive cases, of which 44029 cases remain active. 2206 people have passed away, as per data provided on the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's website.
