india

Updated: Apr 03, 2020 05:05 IST

Underlining India’s goal of ensuring minimum loss of life and detailing the next steps in India’s strategy to deal with the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday indicated that once the lockdown ends, the Centre and the states will together ensure a staggered re-emergence of the citizenry.

Interacting with the state chief ministers over a video conference from his residential office at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, the PM emphasised that in the next few weeks, “testing, tracing, isolation and quarantine” should remain the focus areas of the local administrations, according to an official statement.

Many CMs praised the Centre’s role in dealing with the outbreak, especially in identifying and quarantining suspect cases arising from Nizamuddin Markaz in Delhi. But nearly all states demanded more financial support and help with ramping up health care infrastructure to meet the surge in the Covid-19 cases.

According to an official, all states were represented in the meeting. However, only a select number of CMs spoke. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee was the only CM who was not present at the meet, but the state was represented by its chief secretary.

During the interaction, Modi spoke about formulating a “common exit strategy” to ensure “staggered re-emergence of the population” once the lockdown ended. The PM asked the state governments to brainstorm and send suggestions to the Centre on how to do this. He emphasised that even after the lockdown ends, the importance of social distancing to prevent the spread of Covid-19 must be kept in mind.

This is the first hint of the government’s thinking on what happens after April 14; it suggests that while a complete lockdown will not continue, neither will there be entirely free movement of people, with restrictions in place for certain geographical clusters, demographic groups and on travel. The Prime Minister announced on Tuesday last week that a 21-day lockdown was being put in place to control the spread of Covid-19, which has infected at least a million people across the world since last December.

Experts believe that this may be a sensible approach. Ravindra Mehta, chief of pulmonary and critical care medicine at Apollo Hospitals, Bengaluru, said: “Staggered re-emergence of the public is the best option at the point as continuous lockdown for a long term is not sustainable. The government will test the waters and even when people come out, the government must enforce social distancing and restrict all non-essential activities such as foreign travel. But in the next few weeks, the top priority should be accorded to beefing up health care infrastructure.”

But the staggered re-emergence will have implementation challenges. Yashovardhan Azad, a retired senior Indian Police Service officer, said: “Even after the lockdown is officially lifted, the identified hot spots of the virus need to be protected. But now, the states get about 13-14 days to plan their exit routes well. And they must use it well.”

The video conference with CMs took place two weeks after the first such meeting on the pandemic on March 20. Thursday’s meeting focused on the current strategies in force and the next steps in the battle against the pandemic that has killed at least 51,000 people worldwide.

The PM praised different states for their “teamwork” which helped check the speed of the virus, and thanked them for supporting the lockdown, due to which, the PM suggested, India had achieved some success in limiting the spread of Covid-19.

He emphasised the need for quick identification of virus hot spots and to encircle them to ensure the virus does not spread out.

The PM also pointed to the need to maintain law and order across the country — law and order is a state subject.

He also asked the states to make available dedicated hospital facilities for Covid-19 patients, tap into the resource pool of AYUSH doctors, organise online training and utilise paramedical staff and civil society volunteers. States could consider setting up crisis management groups at the district level, in line with groups of bureaucrats formed by the Union government, and appoint district surveillance officers, he suggested.

At a time when there remains a debate about whether India is testing enough, the PM underlined that data for testing must come from accredited labs so that there is congruence in data of district, state and the Centre.

The PM also asked for staggered release of funds to the beneficiaries under PM Garib Kalyan Yojana to avoid crowding at banks.

A video clip of the meeting also showed PM Modi pointing out that Covid-19 has attacked people’s faith, belief, traditions and the way of life. He added that to counter the outbreak, political leaders needed to reach out to community leaders and social welfare organisations.

State governments put forth their demands at the meeting. The Rajasthan government asked for a package of ₹1 lakh crore, while West Bengal sought a grant of ₹25,000 crore, over and above their dues of ₹36,000 crore. States such as Andhra Pradesh and Bihar asked for more fiscal flexibility, while Odisha demanded unemployment allowance for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) workers.

Experts believe that the crisis demands a strong Centre-state collaboration, and the former needed to be more supportive of financial needs of the states. Yamini Aiyar, president and chief executive of the Centre for Policy Research, said: “Genuine cooperative federalism is imperative. States are at the front lines and best placed to devise interventions suited to their contexts. But they are fiscally strapped. The Centre needs to devise a mechanism for support that is untied and flexible and buttresses state action rather than undermine it with central schemes. The demand for greater financial support from states is critical and the Centre must take heed.”

Many CMs also sought medical equipment apart from cash to tackle the situation. Rajasthan wanted to take loans of up to 2% of the state’s GSP and asked for the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to be made the nodal office for buying personal protective equipment (PPE) and ventilators so that they are available to every state at best price and on time. It also underlined the need to focus on interstate supply chain protocol for essential items, medicines and medical equipment.

West Bengal demanded more face masks, gloves, sanitisers, special suits for medical staff and also immediate release of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) compensation and cess amount. Maharashtra, too, wanted immediate release of pending GST compensation, and permission to procure and manufacture PPE kits and N-95 masks.

Speaking to the media after the interaction, Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa said: “The PM said that migrant labourers should be provided all facilities; lockdown should be implemented in full; food, medicine and other essential items should be made easily available; there should be no shortage of doctors or medical facilities; the PM Garib Kalyan package should be implemented smoothly; and states should ensure that there is no impact of lockdown on agricultural activities.”

On agriculture, according to the official statement, the PM said that the Centre has provided some relaxation of rules to harvest crops but monitoring and social distancing must take place during harvesting. He also asked the states to think of other platforms for procuring grains apart from agriculture produce marketing committees, and explore the possibility of creating pooling platforms for rural areas, like that in ride-sharing apps, which can be used for this purpose.

The Opposition asked the PM to be more consultative in his approach. The chief spokesperson of the Congress, Randeep Singh Surjewala, said that if the PM had consulted the CMs before announcing the nationwide lockdown, all the problems emerging now could have been avoided.

“It’s better late than never. The battle against Covid-19 is not between political parties but a nation’s fight against the pandemic. Hence, the government should discuss all measures with the Opposition. The PM should take into confidence the entire Opposition and try to implement the suggestions given by the leaders of different political parties.”