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Ensure Population’s Staggered Reemergence Post Lockdown: PM to CMs

This is the second time PM Modi is speaking to chief ministers over the pandemic.

Updated
India
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, 2 April, held a meeting with chief ministers via video conferencing, on the COVID-19 outbreak in the country, saying that state governments and the Centre must formulate a common exit strategy to ensure the staggered re-emergence of population once lockdown ends.

Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh were also present on call. This is the second time PM Modi spoke to the chief ministers on the pandemic.

The prime minister has been speaking to various stakeholders over the situation in the country via video conference amid the 21-day lockdown to tackle the pandemic. Meanwhile, at least 1,965 cases were reported across the country with at least 50 deaths, according to the Health Ministry data.

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'Praiseworthy How All States Have Worked Together to Check the Spread of the Virus: PM

According to the Press Information Bureau's press release, Modi "praised how all the States have worked together as a team to check the spread of the virus. He however forewarned that the global situation remains far from satisfactory and informed about speculations of a possible second wave of spread of the virus in some countries."

The States and Centre must formulate a common exit strategy to ensure staggered re-emergence of population once lockdown ends, the PM said, adding that the goal is to ensure minimum loss of life.

"In the next few weeks, testing, tracing, isolation and quarantine should remain the areas of focus," Modi said as per the PIB release, highlighting the importance of "maintaining supply of essential medical products, availability of raw material for manufacture of medicines and medical equipment. He said it is necessary to ensure availability of separate, dedicated hospital facilities for COVID-19 patients. To increase the availability of doctors, he asked the States to tap into the resource pool of AYUSH doctors, organize online training and utilize para-medical staff, NCC and NSS volunteers."

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'A Fight Which Must Be Fought by Each of Us': CMs Pledge Support

The chief ministers who attended the conference spoke up in support of the initiatives taken, and announced their intention to do the best in order to ensure the control of the outbreak.

Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Pema Khandu, tweeted about the conference. "Even after lockdown, follow corona prevention safety measures like wearing mask, cleanliness, distancing etc. Being responsible will save us," he wrote.

ANI reported that Khandu made a faux pas when he tweeted 'Completion of lockdown will end on 15 April next,' however the tweet was allegedly later deleted. "The tweet with respect of lockdown period was uploaded by an officer whose comprehension in Hindi was limited. And therefore same was removed," Khandu tweeted.

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Tablighi Jamaat, State-Specific Concerns Discussed

Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said that "today, we attended video conference with PM. He took inputs from us and told us this issue is bigger than any war. He had asked us to follow 3T principle: tracking, testing and treatment. He asked us to focus more on tracing.”

He added that PM Modi had asked the states to use drone and GPS technology to ensure quarantine, and also directed all states to make dedicated COVID19 hospitals.

Modi reportedly directed the state governments to observe strict curfew in containment areas, without any lapses.

The Tablighi Jamaat congregation, which has become a coronavirus hotspot, was also reportedly discussed in the meeting.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray made a suggestion that religious leaders should be asked to refrain from holding large gatherings, the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said, adding that Modi accepted the suggestion and asked all chief ministers to speak to religious leaders from their respective states and ask them to tell the community members about the need for social distancing and avoiding large gatherings. Modi also supported Thackeray's view that citizens need to be in good mental health during the lockdown period, PTI reported.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami pitched for central government support to the state’s initiatives, detailing the “preventive and relief measures being pursued by the state government, and the Central help needed for such initiatives,” PTI reported

The Andhra Pradesh government also made a plea to the Centre to extend liberal financial assistance to tide over the "grave crisis" under the impact of COVID-19 and the consequent lockdown.

"We are facing a grave financial crisis, so much so that we could not even pay full salaries for the month of March to our officers and employees. Our revenues have fallen to negligible levels," Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said in the meeting.

(With inputs from PTI)

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Topics:  PM Modi   Coronavirus 2019 

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