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The fifth virtual meet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the Chief Ministers of Indian states and union territories took place on May 11. Modi had stated that he would hear all Chief Minsters before taking a ‘considered’ decision on the road ahead of May 17 when Lockdown 3.0 is scheduled to end. The last such meeting was held on April 27, six days before lockdown 2.0 ended with just nine CMs given time to express their views. However, today’s meeting held greater significance as India’s Covid-19 count has more than doubled since the last meet, with a total of 44024 active cases now as compared to 28,000 previously. In fact, India witnessed a record breaking spike of 4213 new cases within 24 hours. ‘We have a two-fold challenge, to reduce the transmission rate of the disease and to increase public activity gradually,’ stated the Prime Minister.
Divergent views emerged during the six-hour long conference; some states suggested reopening of economic activities in a phase-wise manner while others highlighted the dangers of lifting restrictions. Tamil Nadu’s K Palaniswami and Telegana’s Chandrashekar Rao asked not to allow flights and trains services to resume yet; five states, including Punjab and Assam asked for an extension of the lockdown, while West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee hit out at the government for exploiting the pandemic to play politics. However, the meeting also found a unison with all states raising concerns about the migrant crisis, stranded because of lockdown since March-end. Economic revival was a major theme, as states stressed the need for a central economic package to offset revenue losses caused by the lockdown to combat Covid-19. Chhattisgarh argued that state governments should get the right to handle and make decisions on handling state economic activities and fought for autonomy in declaring red, green and orange zones.
Nagaland government too reported on the state’s health status, the relief efforts being carried out, the necessity to continue paying salaries and pensioners and the grim state of the economy amidst other points. A number of issues must be addressed before the end of Lockdown 3.0. Nagaland’s economy in particular has reached a highly precarious point with a huge deficit, and limited to negligible income, the state’s economy has to be revived through strategic relaxations of agricultural and horticultural sectors. Vegetables and other important crops must be sown and seeds must be distributed and planted in order to prepare for the possible world-wide food shortage ahead. Education is another critical issue, which technology is currently bridging the gap but with several issues such as differing connections, lesson viewing, disseminating and submittal plans which need urgent addressal to make it viable for all students at the local level. Above all, what is missing is a singular official source of news and information dissemination that is able to reach the masses; the state must immediately contact Pasar Bharati to make DD Kohima available for satellite TV subscribers and request an increase in broadcast time with a representative from the state for DD Kohima. A lot of work lies ahead; lockdown 4.0 will be a defining period for us all.