A week ahead of the scheduled expiry of the extended lockdown on May 17, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a meeting on Monday through video conferencing with all the Chief Ministers to assess the situation and road ahead.
The meeting is convened at 3 pm and the main agenda is expected to be on the opening up of public transport and the dilution of current lockdown norms.
Modi on Sunday evening had consultation with key Ministers in the Cabinet and senior officials in the empowered group of officers. The Cabinet Secretary also convened meeting of all
Chief Secretaries and Health Secretaries to assess the present situation.
This will be the fifth meeting of the Prime Minister with the Chief Ministers since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.
The Prime Minister’s Office took to Twitter to share the information that he would hold the meeting via video-conference around 3 pm.
“PM Narendra Modi to hold the 5th meeting via video-conference with state Chief Ministers tomorrow (Monday) afternoon at 3 pm,” PMO India tweeted.
Sources in the Government said the focus of the meeting would be on boosting economic activities and pushing efforts to convert “red” zones with high Covid-19 case load into “orange” or “green” zones.
Several States have recently relaxed labour laws to pump up industrial activities with staggered shifts or limited staff as a fresh spike in coronavirus cases could undo the gains so far.
Monday’s meeting could also discuss further relaxations as part of a graded exit from the lockdown but all restrictions are unlikely to be withdrawn in one go, the sources suggested.
The announcement about PM’s interaction with Chief Minister came after Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba chaired a meeting with Chief Secretaries and Health Secretaries of all states and Union Territories (UTs) to review their status of Covid-19 management.
The Chief Secretaries informed Gauba about the situation in their respective States and also said while protection is required from Covid, the economic activities also needed to be stepped up in a calibrated manner.
The lockdown, enforced on March 25, was originally supposed to end on April 14. It was then extended to May 3 and then again to May 1.
Meanwhile, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has said he is hopeful that Parliament’s Monsoon Session could be held on time, despite the Covid-19 crisis. The Monsoon Session normally begins in the last week of June or in the first week of July.
“Despite Covid-19 crisis, I am hopeful that session could be held on time. But it will also depend on the situation prevailing at that time,” Birla told PTI
Last year, the Monsoon Session ran between June 20 and August 7. The Speaker underlined that it was a testing time due to the Covid-19 crisis, but expressed hope that the session could be held as per normal schedule. Asked whether it will be possible to hold the session if there are strict social-distancing norms still in place in June-July, Birla said a way out could be found when that situation comes.