‘Weekend lockdowns will not bring us results, will go for aggressive containment’

CHANDIGARH: Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar spoke to

Ramesh Vinayak and Hitender Rao

about reviving the economy after the pandemic, the virus trajectory in Gurugram, and running a coalition government, among other issues. Edited excerpts: migrant labourers, and relief camps.

The central government package of ₹20 lakh crore is a big relief. In the changing scenario due to the Covid-19 situation, I feel that the service sector will suffer but the manufacturing and agriculture sectors will do well. per our current projections and rate of recovery, we are doing well in terms of health infrastructure. But we keep reviewing it.

The weekend lockdowns will not bring us results. Things are slowly coming back on track and the imposition of a fresh lockdown would mean putting pressure on people. Our strategy instead is to go for aggressive containment in the NCR districts. We are screening more people and conducting more tests.

We cannot overlook the adverse economic impact of three months. But if you look at the power consumption for the industry, it is at par with 2019. This means that the industry is operating at the same capacity as it was last year. Of course, there could be workforce engagement related issues because of the need to maintain social distancing.

There were complaints regarding forced conversions and marriages from many districts. People are free to adopt any religion in an informed manner but using coercion, allurement to force religious conversions is a matter of concern. Such incidents vitiate the atmosphere of society. We are studying similar laws enacted by other states and accordingly take a call.