PM Wants to Restart Economy, But Not at Cost of Covid-19 War

Hotspots to Stay in Lockdown’: CMs Say PM Wants to Restart Economy, But Not at Cost of Covid-19 War, that is the major speech given by Indian PM Sri.Narendra Modi today during the video conferencing with the state Chief Ministers.

He also added decision on extending the countrywide lockdown would be taken after May 3, when phase 2 ends. However, relaxations would depend on the situation in individual states and curbs would be lifted in districts that have shown improvement.PM Modi said there was no reason to worry. Home Minister Amit Shah, who was also part of the meeting, said economic activities could not be stopped forever but norms such as social distancing and face masks would become a part of daily life, not just in urban areas but also rural areas.

The chief ministers who attended the meeting included Arvind Kejriwal (Delhi), Uddhav Thackeray (Maharashtra), EK Palaniswami (Tamil Nadu), Conrad Sangma (Meghalaya), Trivendra Singh Rawat (Uttarakhand), Yogi Adityanath (Uttar Pradesh), Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal), Nitish Kumar (Bihar) and Naveen Patnaik (Odisha). Bihar CM Nitish Kumar asked PM Modi and Shah to formulate a policy for bringing back people to states. Kumar was under fire when his government refused to bring back students stuck in Kota though UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath gave the nod for the move.

This was the 4th Video conference with CM’s with PM. Odisha, meanwhile, has sought an extension of the lockdown for another month. State health minister Naba Das told the media that other states had supported Odisha’s demand for one month extension.

In his clear speech PM told “I urge you not to get overconfident. You should in your over-enthusiasm not think that if the coronavirus has not yet reached your city, village, street or office, it is not going to reach now. Never make such a mistake. The experience of the world tells us a lot in this regard,” he said.