Maha wants to extend lockdown, waiting for Central govt’s plan
DISCUSSION CM, other ministers meet to chalk out plan; insist on proper distribution of packages announced by Centre
The state government is in favour of extension of the ongoing lockdown till the end of the month. However, the government, during the meeting of the senior ministers and officials on Thursday, decided to wait till Sunday for the Centre to clarify its plan before making an announcement.
Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, his deputy Ajit Pawar and other senior ministers from the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government met at the bungalow reserved for Bal Thackeray memorial at Dadar to decide the course of action.
The state leadership was unanimous over the extension of the lockdown with some more relaxations for industrial and commercial activities. The government is also in favour of allowing a few activities in red zones, by imposing stricter norms on containment zones.
The meeting was convened to finalise the state’s official stand on the lockdown and its exit plan from it before conveying it to the Centre.
“The CM has already spoken to district and divisional collectors. The government expects the Centre to relax some restrictions even in red zones,” said an official from the government.
According to officials, while the Centre is expected to ease the restrictions for industrial and commercial activities, even in urban areas, the government has the power to continue with the stricter norms.
“We are not in favour of allowing inter-district activities even in green and orange zones. There could be more relaxation in movements and industrial-commercial activities in these zones. We intend to introduce a few more activities in red zones too, by tightening the restrictions in containment zones. With the help of the central security forces, the zones will be sealed like ‘military curfew’, so that relaxations outside them are implemented with discipline,” another official said.
Besides the CM and DCM, public works minister Ashok Chavan, revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat, public undertakings minister Eknath Shinde, water resources minister Jayant Patil and senior officials attended the meeting.
The ministers also emphasised on the need to ensure that packages announced by the Central government be implemented in the state properly. They also discussed the measures to be taken for revival of the state economy.
An expert committee of bureaucrats, including retired IAS officers, has said that industrial sector and other activities must be opened across non-containment zones.
The committee has also recommended emphasis on Mumbai by launching a special project to re-start the state economy and also suggested a special programme to support vulnerable groups namely street vendors, drivers and self-employed service providers.
Former chief minister and senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan’s suggestion that the government should borrow gold lying with religious trusts in the country in the wake of financial crunch amid Covid-19 pandemic has stirred controversy as several organisations and temple trusts have strongly opposed the idea.
Many blamed Chavan for targeting only Hindu trusts. Chavan had, on Wednesday, tweeted, “Government must immediately appropriate all the gold lying with all the religious trusts in the country, worth at least $1trillion, according to the #Worldgoldcouncil. The gold can be borrowed through gold bonds at a low-interest rate. This is an emergency.” He said that it can be borrowed at the interest rate of 1-2% in the form of a loan. However, some did not like the idea.
Tushar Bhosale, joint convenor of Maharashtra BJP’S Spiritual Front, condemned Chavan for the concept coined by him. “If the Congress is so concerned about the financial condition of the country, it should first bring out the money usurped by the Congress leaders from scams during their rule,” he said.
Chavan on Thursday said that his idea was not a new one and that the previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government had actually introduced the gold monetisation schemes. “The Vajpayee government in 1999 introduced the gold deposit scheme (GDS) as an aftermath of economic sanctions after May 1998 Pokharan Atomic tests. The scheme was targeted at individuals and institutions asking them to deposit gold in the banks. On November 5, 2015, PM Narendra Modi’s government modified the GDS and introduced the gold monetisation scheme which still exists. According to a finance ministry report, 20,547 kg of gold has been mobilised by 2,952 entities between November 2015 and January 2020 under the scheme. Two temples from Maharashtra have deposited their gold with 11 banks,” he said.
Chavan said that both the schemes were introduced by BJP governments.
Hindu Janjagruti Samiti, a right-wing organisation, alleged it is a deceptive appeal to usurp gold from temples. “The idea commensurates with the Congress’s anti-hindu policies over the past 70 years. The party looted ₹4.82 lakh crore in the form of scams. Congress leaders should return the public money. The churches in the country own most of the land after the defence and railway ministries. Wakf Board owns nearly 7 lakh acres of land. Will the Congress leaders demand to take over their lands,” Ramesh Shinde, national spokesperson of Samiti said.
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