Economic activities to gather steam: Modi tells CMs during video meet

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday (May 11) told the chief ministers that economic activities in India are set to “gather steam”, while asserting that the country will have to devise and implement a “balanced strategy” to deal with COVID-19, and added that the biggest challenge for the country will be to ensure the infection does not spread to villages.

His comments came during a video conference with chief ministers of various states and union territories, which began at 3 pm and lasted for around six hours. This was the fifth such virtual meeting between Modi and the CMs on the pandemic.

During the conference, West Bengal, Telangana, Punjab and Maharashtra urged the PM for extending the lockdown. Speculation is rife that the Centre may extend the lockdown down further beyond the May 17 deadline.

During the meeting, Modi and the chief ministers held extensive discussions on various aspects of the situation arising out of the pandemic and the ongoing nationwide lockdown, with the prime minister telling them that the future path for the country will be determined on the basis of the suggestions by the states.

According to official sources, Modi told the chief ministers that the biggest challenge for the country will be to ensure that the infection does not spread to rural India following relaxation in lockdown norms which included allowing movement of migrant workers. At the same time, he emphasised India will have to devise and implement a “balanced strategy” to deal with the pandemic and step up the economic activities in a gradual manner.

Noting that slowly but surely, economic activities have started in several parts of the country, the prime minister said in the coming days, the process will gather steam. The interaction comes in the midst of growing demands by states, industries, workers and several political leaders to withdraw the lockdown from non-COVID areas as it has adversely impacted the economy and livelihoods of a large section of people.

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Modi also appreciated the role played by the states in the fight against the pandemic, and said the entire world is of the view that India has been able to successfully protect itself from the pandemic, according to official sources. He said “problems” have increased wherever the social distancing norms were not followed or there has been laxity in implementation of the lockdown guidelines. It was essential to make best efforts to ensure that people stay where they were during the lockdown, he said.

However, in times like these people wish to go home and therefore, a change in decision had to be made, Modi added. The prime minister said the biggest challenge would be to ensure the disease does not spread to villages across the country after relaxations provided by the government.

The interaction was also attended by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, among others.

What the Chief Ministers said:

Nitish Kumar (Bihar), Yogi Adityanath (Uttar Pradesh), YS Jagan Mohan Reddy (Andhra Pradesh), Amarinder Singh (Punjab), Nitish Kumar (Bihar), Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal), and Pema Khandu (Arunachal Pradesh) — were among the chief ministers who attended the video conference on Monday. Here’s what they told the prime minister during the meeting:

• West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said the state is being “unnecessarily targeted” over its handling of COVID-19, according to TMC sources. She further accused the Centre of playing politics over the issue and discriminating between the states. “Nobody ever asks our opinion… Don’t bulldoze the federal structure,” NDTV quoted her as saying.
• Tamil Nadu CM Edappadi K. Palaniswami, who also participated in the virtual meet, came out against resumption of passenger train services in the state till May 31. Palaniswami also requested the prime minister to not resume regular air services till the month-end.
• Punjab CM Amarinder Singh pitched for the extension of the lockdown, but with a carefully crafted exit strategy providing fiscal support to states. During the video conference, the Punjab CM said in view of ‘escalating’ virus cases, continuation of the lockdown was needed.
• Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray asked Modi to show “specific and concrete direction” on the ongoing lockdown. An official statement said Thackeray also requested the prime minister to start local trains in Mumbai for essential services staff working in the city.
• Arunachal Pradesh CM Pema Khandu requested Modi for TrueNat machines for quick COVID-19 testing as a large number of stranded people have begun returning to the northeastern state. He also urged him to continue facilitating investments in the Northeast so the region’s economy is not compromised due to the pandemic.
• Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Mohan Reddy virtually called for an end to the lockdown as it has vastly affected the livelihoods of people, and appealed to the government to take a relook into the current containment strategy and shift towards preparing people to “live with the virus.”
• Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal told the prime minister during the virtual meeting that economic activities should be allowed to resume in the national capital, barring the containment zones, said sources.
• Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao urged the prime minister not to resume passenger train services at this juncture, saying allowing them would lead to movement of people and pose problems in testing them for COVID-19 and quarantining.
• Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik on Monday urged the prime minister to involve panchayats in the fight against COVID-19, saying the battle is going to be long. He also stresssed on the need for adopting a “decentralised mechanism” to strengthen the process of containing the virus spread.
• Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat sought the Centre’s permission to reopen residential schools and resumption of economic activities outside containment zones in the state. During the video conference, Rawat also advocated steps to revive the tourism and hospitality industry, saying it had been hit hard by the pandemic.
• Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren raised the issue of financial distress being faced by his state due to the pandemic, seeking payment of GST compensation dues and allowing of special power to impose a tax on mining. He also urged the PM to expedite the return of migrants to their native states in a safe and secure manner, in the wake of the recent Aurangabad train mishap, according to sources in the CMO.
• Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot suggested the PM to launch an employment guarantee scheme for urban areas on the lines of the MGNREGA. He said the lockdown has badly affected daily wagers, due to which the Centre should come up with an employment generation scheme for the urban poor. He said states should be given powers to decide coronavirus zones.
• Goa CM Pramod Sawant urged the PM to lift curbs on inter-state public transport partially. Participating in the video conference, he also demanded resumption of mining activity and tourism to kickstart the state economy.
• Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel said the Centre should allow state governments to decide on red, green, orange zones based on severity of the coronavirus situation in areas under their jurisdiction, officials said. He also  sought a ₹30,000-crore assistance for Chhattisgarh.

It was earlier reported that there will be an effort to ensure that all participating chief ministers get an opportunity to air their views during the interaction, as some of the CMs had complained that they were not allowed to put forth their views during the last interaction on April 27.

(With inputs from agencies)