Coronavirus PM Modi: Talks with CMs of India to discuss whether to extend the lockdown or not.
The initial decision of 1-day lockdown followed by a 21-day lockdown was taken by the government of India to curb the further spread of the coronavirus by practicing social distancing as much as possible by getting house arrested. However, as days pass, India sees a massive increase in the number of infected people & also the number of deaths. Tough times require more stringent measures at the right time to further prevent the spread of the virus & hence, as India stands with around 7,500 cases, all eyes are on PM Narendra Modi waiting for the decision on the extension of the lockdown.
On Saturday, PM Modi interacted with the CMs of the states & union territories of India via video conference to discuss the next steps to be taken & to decide the extension of the 21-day lockdown which ends on April, 14. According to reports, in the virtual meeting, Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister of Delhi is said to have suggested extending the lockdown till April, 30 so as to prevent the spread of the deadly virus. In sync with what Kejriwal said, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh also echoed the same thoughts.
Bhupesh Baghel, Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, was of the opinion that the ban on rail, inter-state road & air facilities, must continue. However, he requested the PM to permit economic activities within the borders.
Other Chief Ministers joining in the video conference on Saturday were CM of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath, CM of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee, CM of Haryana Manohar Lal, CM of Telangana Chandrashekhar Rao, CM of Bihar Nitish Kumar & CM of Maharashtra Uddhav Thackeray.
Talking about the possibility of extending the lockdown, PM Modi last week had also said that it is not likely to pull off the lockdown in "one go" as the priority of his government is first to save the lives of people. While the decision of other states is still awaited, Odisha & Punjab have already extended the lockdown in their states till the month-end. Telangana CM, K Chandrashekar Rao was also seen favouring the extension of lockdown in his state. At the same time, CMs of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Assam & Maharashtra indicated that they would not entirely lift the restrictions post Tuesday.