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Balancing health concerns and economic activity a challenge for us: Conrad Sangma
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to have a video conference with chief ministers on Saturday to discuss the next course of action after the three-week lockdown
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to have a video conference with chief ministers on Saturday to discuss the next course of action after the three-week lockdown to halt the coronavirus pandemic ends on April 14. Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma spoke to Sunetra Choudhury about the meeting, what the way forward should be at the national level and in his state, which has so far remained untouched by the pandemic. Edited excerpts:
Your Odisha counterpart, Naveen Patnaik, has announced an extension of the lockdown till April end. Are you likely to follow suit?
I think the lockdown definition is the crucial part. What does one really mean by that? One thing is for sure, the inter-state and the movement at a national level is something that states want not to happen at this point. Does that mean that a state as a whole also locks down? That is a call that we have to take in every state. In Meghalaya, we want a lockdown in terms of the inter-state movement. But [the curbs on] small activities like farming or MGNREGS [Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme], which involve local people or even small constructions , daily wage people, could be relaxed. It really depends on the definition of the lockdown.
Are you saying this because your state has not reported any coronavirus cases yet?
I am speaking from both perspectives. From the national perspective, it is advisable that we continue with the lockdown in terms of movement. When it comes to my state, the challenge that we are facing is the balance between health concerns and the livelihood and economic activity of the poor. As a government, we are looking at striking a balance, which is not always the easiest thing to do. We felt that in our state, we would see that in a small, controlled manner, we could have economic activity without risking any health hazard.
Is the Centre open to this?
If you remember even in the beginning, the Centre allowed certain concessions and some activities. The general consensus is that there should not be movement of people inter-district and there should not be any kind of gatherings. At the end of the day, essential commodities need to move, people need to buy daily products and food items. So there has been flexibility for that from the beginning. I think farming activity, small time construction should be considered now because it is also the time for sowing.
What has been the impact of the lockdown on mental health given two labourers in Meghalaya have committed suicide?
It is unfortunately that those incidents took place and people were pushed to that level. We pray that it does not happen again but these are testing times. There is no doubt about it. In situations like this, it is not as easy for us to always go to the micro level although we would like to. But we are forced to look at the overall picture and see what is in the national interest. This [lockdown] was a tough decision and I understand people are facing a lot of problems. I can only urge people to see that this is not being done to make their lives difficult but to guard everybody’s interest and health. It is the bigger picture we are looking at. We will do all we can to help the people who are poor and needy and those from the backward sections.
Did Modi’s announcement for the national lockdown take you by surprise or you knew about it?
Of course, there was a hint in our different discussions... but not on the number of days and the extent [of the lockdown]. Even now, we do have an idea about where we are heading to but we will have to wait and see day after tomorrow [Saturday] what is going to be there. The prime minister has been proactive in consulting chief ministers... it has been a team work on everyone’s part--bureaucrats, political leadership and health workers.
What kind of economic impact do you see for your state?
I think there is no doubt about the huge impact... The smaller and weaker sections, the daily wage labourers are the people we need to look at. Overall, we are going to see a lot of impact on service sectors like tourism. A large chunk of our population depends on hotels, restaurants, taxis. We have a certain level of manufacturing too. I just hope it [impact] is minimised and the Centre and the state can work together for that.
