What Did The Chief Ministers say To The Prime Minister in Today’s Video Conference?

Highlights:

• PM holds a meeting with CMs across the country
• 4^th such interaction between the PM and the CMs since 22^nd of March
• Chief Ministers seek help and give suggestions to the PM

On Monday, Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi held a video conference which was attended by the Chief Ministers to discuss the situation in their respective states and Union territories (UTs) amid the deadly pandemic which have been under a lockdown since 24^th March to contain the spread of the deadly Coronavirus.

Meghalaya said that the state will continue with the shutdown even after the last date of the current lockdown 3^rd May with relaxations in non-COVID-19 affected places or “Green Zones”.

The first interaction PM Modi had with the CMs was on the 22^nd of March when he spoke of the potential danger the Coronavius posed and what steps should be taken by Centre and the states to contain the spread of the deadly virus. Two days later, 24^th March, PM Modi announced a 21 day lockdown which was implemented across the country. Later, the lockdown was extended by 19 days and is scheduled to end on the 3^rd May.

Apart from the CMs and the PM, the virtual meet was also attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Health Minister Dr harsh Varshan and some other top officials from the Prime Minister Officer (PMO) and Union Health Ministry.

Chief Minister who attended the meeting included Yogi Adityanath (Uttar Pradesh), Arvind Kejriwal (Delhi), Uddhav Thackeray (Maharashtra), Jai Ram Thakur (Himachal Pradesh), Conard Sangma (Meghalaya), Pinarayi Vijayan (Kerala), E K Palaniswami (Tamil Nadu), and Trivendram Singh Rawat (Uttarakhand).

The meeting between the Prime Minister and the Chief Ministers hols much importance as India has entered the final week of the 40 days lockdown which was put to contain the spread of the novel Coronavirus which has reportedly infected over 27,500 people in the country and claimed the lives of almost 900.

In the past 24 hours alone, 1,396 cases of COVId-19 were reported in Indian and 48 deaths. Maharashtra has come out as the worst impacted state in the country with over 8000 cases and almost 350 deaths.

Let us take a look at what the Chief Minister said in the meeting with the Prime Minister:

1. Zoramthanga, Chief Minister of Mizoram said that the state is religiously following the norms of lockdown and will continue to follow the directions of the Centre.

2. Trivendra Singh Rawat, Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, advised that the businesses and trade activities should be started in a phased manner with the focus on following all precautions. He added that governments should slowly come to ease the lives of the people by turning the situation back to normal. Rawat said that in Uttarakhand, all the development work has already started including MGNREGA. He also said that the revival of the economy should be the focus moving forward.

3. Conrad Sangma, Chief Minister of Meghalaya, said that he will extend the lockdown in the state even after 3^rd May with restrictions on the inter-district and inter-state movement and relaxations will be provided to the essential services and medical emergencies.

4. Jai Ram Thakur, Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, said that the state is now in a position to commence the economic activities. He said that the decision over the lockdown should be taken after consultation and consideration of the other states and UTs. He said that his government, to create sensitization, has reached out to people via Anganwadi centers, he added, “We have been aggressively testing people with symptoms because bordering states have reported cases. We are very happy that 12 districts of Himachal have no positive case,”. Thakur also said that Himachal has reached out to aid the underprivileged people financially and said that they are prepared to tackle the challenge.

6. V Narayanasamy, Chief Minister of Puducherry (Pondicherry), said that he needs help from the centre to fulfil the deficit of the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kit and some other medical pieces of equipment. He also sought monetary aid along with grants to fight the COVID-19.

7. Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister of Odisha, had a couple of suggestions and said that the pan country lockdown should be extended however, the important activities should be given the green flag. Patnaik also said that public gathering, religious and education institutions should not be allowed and the economic activities should remain within the boundaries of the state. He also requested the Centre that it should relook to initiate measures to kickstart the southward going economy as “we work together to curb the disease”.

8. Vijay Rupani, Chief Minister of Gujarat, first briefed about the situation in his state and said that till the 17^th of April more than 22,000 tests were done, and in the last 10 days, more than 28,000 tests have been done. He said, “We have ramped up our facilities in the last 10 days and all positive cases are being treated. Door to door testing continues in hotspot areas of the State. We are increasing beds in the COVID care center. We have adequate medical facilities to tackle the challenge of COVID,”. He said that in hotspot areas of the state, and after the Nizamuddin incident in Surat, Ahmedabad, and Vadodara, the state has increased surveillance and started treatment of the people affected.

9. Manohar Lal Khatta, Chief Minister of Haryana, said that apart for the containment zone they have resumed the industries and trade activities where more than 4 lakh people are involved. He said, “We have also started farming activities by following all protocols and social distance is maintained. We have started online classes for higher classes. The inter-district and inter-state movement will remain closed. We will follow any decision taken by the government of India for lockdown,”.

Globally the deadly Coronavirus has infected more than 30 lakh people out of this more than 2 lakh people have lost their lives.