PM Modi to hold meeting with state' chief ministers on Monday to review on lockdown progress

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will reportedly hold a video conference with all the chief ministers of states and Union Territories on Monday afternoon to review over the containiment of coronavirus disease while gradually restarting economic activities in a phased manner.

The meeting will also be resided by home minister Amit Shah, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan along with senior officials from the centre including the home and health secretary. The meeting will likely to discuss the next stage in the exit from the nationwide lockdown and focuses on a further increase in economic activities and also on ways to tackle the pandemic in containment zones.

On the other hand, the cabinet secretary Rajeev Gauba held a meeting with the chief secretaries and the health secretaries of all states on Sunday to review the status of Covid-19 management. As per the centre, the states were said to be in favour of a two-pronged strategy to enhance the economic activities while containing the disease. Gauba had also held two meetings with state officials on Saturday to identify areas for reopening after May 17 when the third phase of lockdown ends.

The officials who are familiar with the prime minister's meeting have reportedly said that there could be more concessions to be introduced after May 17, but the number of Covid-19 hotspots and containment zones is unlikely to change.

On the other hand, the government had classified all 773 districts in the country into three zones- Red, Orange and Green, to indicate the level of economic activity and restrictions in place in each of these districts. 130 districts were identified as part of the Red Zone, 284 as Orange Zone and 319 as Green Zone.

On Sunday, the total number of coronavirus cases in India climbed to 62,939, while total number of fatalities rose to 2,109. The prime minister's meeting with chief ministers will also discuss the two tragedies- the Vizag Styrene gas leak case that killed 13 people and led to injuries to several others and the Aurangabad train accident in which 16 migrant workers were killed. Hence, the National Disaster Management Authority released the guidelines after the Vishakapatnam incident in the wake of restarting of industries after the lockdown to prevent unwanted incidents.

The chief ministers meeting with Prime Minister Modi is likely to also focus on the plight of migrant workers, which presents a difficulty for a full-scale resumption of manufacturing, industrial and construction activities.