On Thursday night Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to the various Chief Ministers to get their views on the pan-India lockdown that had been put in place to control the novel coronavirus outbreak.
According to a tweet by news agency PTI, Shah had sought their views on extension of the lockdown.
A pan-India lockdown had been put in place on May 25. Since then, the lockdown has been extended thrice, with the current phase bringing with it a relaxation of restrictions in many parts of the country. The lockdown had been based on suggestions from Chief Ministers, and had given them more leeway to handle the situation in their respective states and Union Territories. Flight and rail services have resumed in a limited capacity, as has intra-state and interstate travel by road. Similarly, many shops have been permitted to open with limitations in place. Lockdown 4.0 is in place until May 31.
With that date drawing closer, there has been speculation about a lockdown extension. At the same time, there have been a high number of cases recorded in recent days, with there having been more than 1,58,300 cases recorded thus far.
According to an NDTV report from earlier on Thursday that quoted a Home Ministry official, it will ultimately be "a political call on whether to continue with the National Disaster Management Act or allow the states have a final call as to how they want to proceed from June 1".
It must however be mentioned that the Home Ministry had previously denied speculation regarding Lockdown 5.0.
