He, however, urged the CMs to “think of ways to energise the economy and reforms,” a top government official told ET, adding that the discussion on the economy was “extensive”.
The PM sought to put the issue of exiting the lockdown in context at a video conference with CMs, where he emphasised that districts will have to gradually move through the colour code — red, orange and green.
“Districts need to come out of the red zones and move to orange zones and the green zones to get relaxations from lockdown. It is a performance-based matrix and case load needs to come down first in the worst-affected districts through strict implementation of the lockdown for them to qualify for relaxations,” a top government official told ET, explaining the Centre’s thinking.
The prime minister impressed on chief ministers that it was a long-drawn battle ahead. However, officials denied that the PM had said to CMs that the Covid-19 cases will peak in June or July.
‘Need to Break Transmission Chain’
Modi stressed the need for states to strictly enforce lockdown guidelines, and pitched for the mantra of ‘do gaz doori’ (a distance of two yards) to protect people from the infection.
PM told CMs that “importance needs to be given to the economy as well” while fighting Covid-19 and for that it’s vital to “break the chain of transmission in the red and orange zones and be on alert in the green zones to stop entry of coronavirus there,” senior officials told ET.
The problem for the government is that areas worst-hit by Covid-19, thus dominating the ‘red list’ are urban centres like Delhi, Mumbai and Pune. Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant later said on Twitter that there are 15 high-load districts, out of which seven like Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Indore and Jaipur were reporting particularly high volumes.
“India’s success in battling Covid-19 is dependent on them. We must aggressively monitor, contain, test and treat in these districts. We must win here,” Kant said.
However, officials said districts in the orange and green zones could see more relaxations for industry and the shopkeepers next week.
“He (Modi) highlighted the importance for states to enforce guidelines strictly in the hotspots i.e. the red zone areas. He stated that the efforts of the states should be directed towards converting the red zones into orange and thereafter to green zones,” the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement.
As on April 15, there were 170 red zone districts, and 207 orange zones which had not reported a positive case in 14 days. Green zones include districts which have not seen any positive case for last 28 days or any case ever.
SEPARATE EXIT PLAN
Modi asked the CMs to work out details on the kind of restrictions that ought to be lifted in green zone districts while drawing up a separate phased exit plan for orange zone districts. “This could mean more relaxation in such zones like opening up of non-essential shops and movement of people allowed only within the green zones,” a senior official said.
“Most CMs also want this approach. No one wants to take a chance as cases can resurface.PM made it a point to tell CMs that there was no stigma involved in a state reporting high cases and testing should be increased without such fear,” the official said.
“It does not seem that the lockdown will go away in one go. That seemed the sense from today’s meeting. Most states want a cautious approach,” Himachal Pradesh chief minister JR Thakur told ET. He said a plan for different states was in the works at the Centre.
‘UNITED APPROACH’
Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik is believed to have praised India’s overall “united approach”, an official said. “Previous video conferences saw states with higher disease prevalence speaking. In the last video conference, 13 out of the 15 who spoke were non-BJP CMs. PM said that this time he wanted to give chance to CMs of Northeast and Himalayan states to express their views. They may not have many cases but they are also impacted,” an official said.
Besides this, the PM told CMs that India’s situation was much better than other countries with comparable population. “Everyone’s aim must be rapid response. PM pointed out that many people are self-declaring whether they have cough and cold or symptoms, and that this is a welcome sign,” said the PMO.
