Addressing the country on Tuesday, PM Modi announced that the COVID-19 lockdown will be extended till May 3. A decision will be taken on easing restrictions after April 20. "The fight against the coronavirus is going ahead successfully. You suffered great difficulties in this fight. Some for food, some in travelling, some in the distance from home. The new year has started in several states in the country. The way people are observing the lockdown is inspiring and commendable. We have reaped great dividends from social distancing and lockdown,"he said.
He also urged everyone to be very careful about hotspots. "Till April 20, all districts, localities, states will be closely monitored, as to how strictly they are implementing norms. We will have to keep a close watch on the places which are expected to be converted into hotspots. The creation of new hotspots will further challenge our hard work and our austerity," said PM Modi.
"The state of coronavirus pandemic is not unknown to anyone. India, compared to other countries, has tried to contain the outbreak and all of you have witnessed and participated in the same. India had started screening visitors from corona-infected countries even when we had zero cases of Corona. India had made 14 days of isolation necessary for every foreign visitor even before we had reached 100 patients. We have set an example to the world on how to battle the coronavirus," he said.
After a meeting between PM Modi and state chief ministers a week ago, a broad consensus had emerged for the national lockdown to be extended by at least two weeks. By Tuesday, states like Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Maharashtra, Punjab and Odisha had already extended the lockdown in their respective territories till April 30.
But, extending the lockdown as it is comes with its own issues. On Sunday, the World Bank, in its 'South Asia Economic Update: Impact of COVID-19', had said the coronavirus pandemic has severely disrupted the Indian economy, magnifying pre-existing risks to its outlook, predicting the Indian economy to slow down to 2.8 per cent growth in FY 2021. Lives are at stake, but so were livelihood. It was up to the Centre to undertake measures to contain the health and economic fallout, with the RBI providing calibrated support in the form of policy rate cuts and regulatory forbearance.
"While making new guidelines, we have kept in mind the interests of the poor and daily wage workers," said PM Modi, in his address. "Harvesting of rabi crops is also underway. Central government and state governments are working together to ensure that farmers face minimal problems."
The Centre, in consultation with states, is expected to slowly restart economic activities in a graded manner in what is seen as a nuanced change in strategy. It had earlier sought inputs related to production, labour and logistics from clusters in five key sectors to ascertain expected output if they are made operational within a fortnight. The five sectors were textiles, chemicals, electronics, steel and pharmaceutical.
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) had suggested that all transport vehicles of all sizes, whether inter-state, intra-state or intra-city, need to be allowed, whether empty or full, by all enforcement agencies without asking any question. It has also asked for certain repairing units like those individuals or small agencies involved in providing repair services in mobile, refrigerator, air conditioner, television, plumbing, cobblers, ironing (dhobi), electrician, automobile mechanics, cycle to be allowed. The department has stated that all street vendors like fruit and vegetable sellers should be allowed by the states in order to improve doorstep delivery and also to provide much needed liquidity to this population.