Modi to spell out plan on lockdown at 10am today
NEWDELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation at 10am on Tuesday, the last day of the three-week lockdown for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) , amid expectations he will extend the emergency protocol until at least the end of April and move, in a limited way, to restart the economy by selectively easing curbs on industry.
The Prime Minister’s Office announced Modi’s address in a post on the microblogging site Twitter on Monday. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation at 10am on 14th April 2020,” the PMO tweeted on a day the number of Covid-19 infections rose by 1,253 to 10,444 cases, and deaths increased 29 to 355.
It will be the PM’s third televised address to the nation in less than a month. On March 19, Modi said he would seek the “coming few weeks” of Indian citizens, asked them to stay determined and patient in the fight against the global pandemic, senior citizens to remain indoors and called for a “people’s curfew” on March 22 to demonstrate their unity and resolve.
On March 24 came the announcement of a nationwide, three-week lockdown -- the world’s biggest -- that has halted commercial flights and train journeys,taken public transport off the streets, closed schools and colleges and shut industrial production, as the government tried to break the chain of infections.
A day ahead of the address, Modi held in-depth talks with the principal scientific adviser Prof K VijayRaghavan apart from holding his regular meetings with principal secretary PK Mishra and cabinet secretary RK Gauba. The talks with VijayRaghavan focussed on how the Aarogya app is contributing to tracking the spread of Covid-19, HT has learnt.
Shops that sell food, groceries, fruits and vegetables and dairy products, pharmacists, banks and automated teller machines, and petrol pumps have been exempted from the lockdown. Establishments that have been kept out of the purview of the lockdown also include utilities, sanitation, municipal bodies,the police, home guards and civil defence, hospitals, veterinary clinics and pharmaceutical manufacturing and distribution units.
A majority of India’s states have backed an extension of the lockdown so as not to fritter away
the benefits that may have accrued from the strict social distancing norms put in place to keep the highly infectious virus at bay, but some sought an easing of the lockdown in areas outside the so-called red zones that include Covid-19 hot spots and containment zones.
At least seven states -- Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, West Bengal, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana -- have already announced an extension of the lockdown until April 30.
On Monday, members of the Union council of ministers returned to work at their offices for the first time since the lockdown began. The Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) reaffirmed that all offices except those in the defence, central armed police forces, essential services such as power and postal services will remain closed.
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) recommended to the home ministry that certain identified industries and services be allowed to resume limited activity with “reasonable safeguards” to restart economic activity and put money in the hands of people.
Covid-19 is expected to take a heavy toll on Asia’s third largest economy, which was already in the midst of a slowdown when the virus hit.