PM Modi to hold another meeting with CMs to discuss lifting Covid-19 lockdown

This will be the Prime Minister’s second meeting with the chief ministers during the lockdown period.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold another round of meeting with chief ministers on April 11, days before the 21-day lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus disease Covid-19 is lifted. The lockdown is scheduled to end on April 14, but in a meeting with parliamentarians today, PM Modi virtually ruled out lifting the stringent measure.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi holds a meeting with floor leaders of parties through video conferencing on Wednesday to discuss the Covid-19 situation in the country. (ANI Photo)

This will be the Prime Minister’s second meeting with the chief ministers during the lockdown period. He had held a similar meeting last week via video conferencing to discuss the prevailing coronavirus situation in the country with chief ministers.

During the interaction on April 2, the PM spoke about formulating a “common exit strategy” to ensure “staggered re-emergence of the population” once lockdown is over. PM Modi also asked chief ministers to enforce the lockdown, help the needy get food and to ensure contact tracing of people known to have tested positive with the deadly pathogen, particularly those who attended the Tablighi Jamaat event last month.

PM Modi praised different states for extensive teamwork which he said had helped to check the transmission of the virus to some extent. He also expressed concern about the rapidly deteriorating global health crisis.

The Prime Minister highlighted the need to maintain the supply of essential medicines, essential food items and availability of raw material for manufacture of medicines and medical equipment. He asked the states to ensure dedicated hospital facilities for Covid-19 patients, tap into the resource pool of AYUSH doctors, organise online training and utilise para-medical staff, NCC and NSS volunteers.

PM Modi has been interacting with various stakeholders, including doctors and heads of Indian missions to get a feedback on ways to check the spread of Covid-19.

He also recently spoke to various leaders including Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, DMK leader MK Stalin and discussed the Covid-19 situation as well as his government’s efforts to contain the spread of the pandemic.

He had also talked former presidents Pratibha Patil and Pranab Mukherjee, and former prime ministers HD Deve Gowda and Manmohan Singh.