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Modi holds 6-hour long meeting with C.M.’s of various States and U.T.s

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Modi meets with CM’s of states and UTs to address plight of migrant workers and restarting of the economy

The Prime Minister of India – Narendra Modi today, i.e., Monday, May 11, 2020 chaired a meeting with the Chief Ministers of various States and Union territories (U.T.s), through video conferencing, on ways to strengthen the Coronavirus (COVID-19) containment strategy and how to enhance the economic activities.

The meeting gains significance as lockdown 3.0 is scheduled to end on Monday, May 17, 2020. The meeting which started at 3:00 p.m., lasted for more than 6 hours. 30 States and Union Territories participated in the meeting. This was Modi’s fifth meeting with the Chief Ministers, since the lockdown 1.0. The meeting was also attended by Defence Minister of India – Rajnath Singh, Home Minister of India – Amit Shah, Finance Minister of India – Nirmala Sitharaman and Health Minister of India – Dr. Harsh Vardhan.

The main agenda of the meeting was the plight of migrant workers who are struggling to return to their home. Another key issue which was discussed was restarting of the economy.

Before the meeting, the PM said that there will be an effort to ensure that all participants get an opportunity to air their views during the interaction. However, not all participants were able to share their views by the time meeting ended. Hence, Modi asked them to submit their views in writing by May 15, 2020.

Praising the efforts of States and U.T.s, Modi said that the world is of the view that India has been able to successfully protect itself from the outbreak. He further suggested that a balanced strategy has to be adopted for the road ahead. He told the participants that this strategy will be made on the basis of the suggestions submitted by the States and U.T.s.

Modi said his biggest concern is that the outbreak doesn’t spread to villages, especially after relaxations in lockdown, provided by the Government.

The first person to speak was the C.M. of West Bengal – Mamata Banerjee. She accused the Centre of not involving the State into any planning. She said that the State is being side-lined and is only asked to comply with the decisions of the Centre. She also highlighted the contradictions in the Centre’s approach in tackling the outbreak. On one hand, the Centre wants the lockdown to be enforced strictly, and on the other, it is resuming train services and reopening land borders.

The C.M. of Karnataka – B.S. Yediyurappa proposed that the District-wise classification of Red, Orange and Green Zones should be done away with. He said that only containment zones should be identified and strictly cordoned off. A perimeter of 50-100 meters around known clusters may be declared as containment zones. He also suggested that national and international travel should remain suspended till May 31, 2020. In non-containment zones, commercial activities and public transport should be allowed to resume.

Taking it to twitter, Yediyurappa tweeted, “Participated in the Video Conference held by PM Shri @NarendraModi with Chief Ministers of all states. Strategy to tackle #Covid19 & measures to be taken for relaxation of lockdown were discussed. My cabinet colleagues and senior officials were present.”

Uddhav Thackrey, the C.M. of Maharashtra, which remains the worst hit State, submitted that Centre should clearly define the terms of ongoing lockdown and relaxations that are being offered during lockdown. He also called for a well-devised strategy as cases of COVID-19 are expected to increase in June and July 2020. He favoured the deployment of Central Forces on streets as it will allow the much-needed rest to the Police Personnel. He also requested the PM to resume the local trains in Mumbai for people working in essential services.

The C.M. of Delhi – Arvind Kejriwal recommended that all economic activities should be allowed in the national capital, except for the containment zones. The C.M. of Assam – Sarbananda Sonowal asked Modi to extend the lockdown by 2 more weeks.

Sharing his views on twitter, Sonowal tweeted, “Leading #TeamIndia from the front with courage & determination, PM @narendramodi ji has made India’s fight against #COVID19 a global model to follow. In today’s VC by the PM with all CMs, we discussed ways to gradually rejuvenate our economy, keeping every citizen healthy & safe.”

Naveen Patnaik, Odisha CM, advocated a greater role for Panchayats in the battle against the pandemic. He urged the PM to modify existing schemes to incentivise and actively involve Panchayati Raj institutions in containing the pandemic. Emphasising on the need for adopting a decentralized mechanism, Patnaik said that instead of declaring an entire District as red, orange or green zone, only the troublesome areas should be classified as red, orange or green zone.

Patnaik tweeted, “Suggest Union Govt. to come up with National Standard Operating Procedure for rebooting economic activities as our production lines & value addition processes cutting across state boundaries. A national SOP will guide a unified response for rebooting economy. #OdishaFightsCorona”

Chattisgarh’s C.M. – Bhupesh Baghel opined that States should be given liberty to classify the zones as red, orange or green, depending upon the severity of the area. He also proposed that States should be allowed to decide what all economic activities should be allowed to restart. In addition, he asked for a Rs. 30,000 crores relief package for the State. He asked to include employees and officials of the Police Department, Municipal Corporations, District Administration and other related departments under the PM Garib Kalyan Package. He also asked to increase 100 days of employment fixed under MGNREGA to 200 days.

The C.M. of Andhra Pradesh – Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy called for a normalcy at the earliest. He said the stigma associated with COVID-19 patients needs to be fought. Other requests made were resumption of inter-state transport service and a relief package of Rs. 16,000 crores.

The C.M. of Punjab – Captain Amarinder Singh demanded an extension of the lockdown, with a carefully crafted exit strategy backed by economic empowerment of states to save lives and secure livelihood. He said that Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) should be allowed to function in red zones with proper safeguards. Amarinder also demanded urgent financial assistance to states to meet at least 33% of their committed liabilities, along with revenue grants for 3 months to meet the shortfall in revenue and fund expenditure.

He tweeted, “In our meeting with PM @NarendraModi Ji, I proposed that the center should consider empowering state fiscally & economically. States should have flexibility in micro-planning & the decision on designating the red, orange/yellow and green zones should be left to us.”

K. Chandrasekhar Rao, the C.M. of Telangana, urged PM Modi not to resume the passenger train services. He strongly favoured allowing migrant workers to return to their native places, besides rescheduling the loans of states and raising Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management. Bihar C.M., Nitish Kumar that his Government is in agreement of extending the lockdown because once the lockdown is lifted, a large influx of people will come into the State and increase the risk of transmission.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, K. Palaniswami also opposed the resumption of passenger train and air services in the State till May 31, 2020 and sought more PCR kits from the Centre to ramp up the ongoing aggressive testing. He also demanded a Rs. 2,000 crores special grant for enhancing the available medical equipment.

The C.M. of Rajasthan – Ashok Gehlot suggested the launch of an employment guarantee scheme for urban areas on the lines of the MGNREGA. He said the lockdown has badly affected daily wagers due to which the Centre should come up with an employment generation scheme for the urban poor. The Goa C.M., Pramod Sawant demanded resumption of mining activity and tourism to kickstart the state economy. He also urged the Centre to lift curbs on inter-state public transport partially.

Meanwhile, India recorded 3,277 fresh cases and 128 casualties in the past 24 hours. As per the Ministry of Health & Family welfare, there are 67,152 cases and there have been 2,206 casualties.

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