NEW DELHI: With a week left the third phase of the lockdown to end, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a meeting with Chief Ministers of various states on Monday afternoon to discuss boosting economic activities and the next course to be adopted by the Centre and the state governments in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
This will be the fifth meeting through video-conferencing by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Chief Ministers on the collective fight against the spread of COVID-19 amid an increase in the number of positive cases registered in various states.
Already, a few states are favouring an extension of the lockdown as studies indicated success in curbing the spread through preventive country-wide stay-at-home policy, which has been in force since March 25.
While the Centre has already granted a number of relaxations for the movement of people to enable the stranded migrant workers, students and others to return to their home states, the saga of struggle for those stuck in various parts of the country continues to pour in.
For over a week now, the Railways has been running Shramik Special trains to ferry the stranded migrants even as a political tussle broke out over the passenger fare being collected from travellers, with many states announcing to underwrite the costs.
Yet, with a ceiling of 1,200 passengers per train and attendant formalities, there are reports from various states that migrant workers are opting for a more arduous journey by foot.
The efforts to open sectors such as agriculture bore fruits with procurement going on in many states, while others, including manufacturing in other permitted areas, are yet to resume in the manner the government may want them to operate. This is both on account of the strict social-distancing norms as well as lesser availability of skilled labour.
One of the major concerns for the Central government is the approach adopted by many states which are hindering the movement of doctors, nurses and paramedics — the frontline warriors against the pandemic.
The Union Health Ministry already suggested that the presence of virus amidst people was a reality that society would have to live with it while taking precautions.