Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the nation on Tuesday for the fifth time since the nationwide lockdown due to deadly coronavirus has been imposed. His address comes after a six-hour-long meeting with the state Chief Ministers regarding the fate of the lockdown 3.0 which is scheduled to end on May 17.
The first lockdown was imposed for 21 days on March 25 after which it extended till May 3 for another 19 days. It has been extended for another two weeks till May 17.
Both the lockdowns were announced by the Prime Minister himself through an address to the nation while for the decision of the third extension, he was unavailable.
“I am of the firm view that the measures needed in the first phase of lockdown were not needed during the second phase and similarly the measures needed in the third phase are not needed in the fourth,” the Prime Minister said, according to a statement released after the meeting with the states chief ministers.
Many states are in favour of resuming economic activity outside containment zones. According to an official statement, the chief ministers in their suggestions on reviving the economy have sought support to micro, small and medium enterprises, infrastructure projects such as power, easing of interest rates on loans and assured market access to agricultural produce.
The video conference with the chief ministers focused on ways to strengthen the COVID-19 containment strategy and stepping up of economic activities in a calibrated manner post the 54-day shutdown.
PM Modi has asked the chief ministers to share by May 15 a broad strategy on how they want to deal with lockdown regime in their states.