Govt officials propose more power to states

NEWDELHI:The country may continue to be divided into red, orange, and green zones, after the current phase of lockdown ends on May 17, but it could be the states deciding the classification, officials involved in the Central government’s deliberations on the matter said.

To be sure, no decision has been taken on this. The Centre is currently evaluating suggestions from the states on the next phase of the lockdown (or if there should be one) and is expected to issue guidelines shortly.

At the meeting between the Prime Minister and chief ministers last week, several CMs raised the issue of zoning and also pointed out that focusing on containment zones, and classifying them as red, orange, and green, would probably work better than classifying an entire district.

The discussions, the officials added, are also looking at whether smaller areas within districts can be used for the classification. The aim is to open up more areas for economic activities.

One plan is for the Centre to define the three zones and leave the rest to the states, one of the officials said, asking not to be named. Under the current system, the union government divides different districts into red, orange and green zones based on the data provided by the state and then shares the details with the states every week.

At the meeting between the PM and the CMs last week, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, and Punja CM, Captain Amarinder Singh asked the centre to give them more powers to demarcate red or orange zones to allow more economic activities.

According to functionaries present in the meeting, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal proposed a division based on containment and non-containment zones.

UNDER THE CURRENT SYSTEM, THE UNION GOVERNMENT DIVIDES DIFFERENT DISTRICTS INTO RED, ORANGE AND GREEN ZONES BASED ON THE DATA PROVIDED BY EACH STATE