<p>Fifteen minutes before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s crucial interaction with Chief Ministers on lockdown vis a vis COVID 19 expansion began, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the Congress CMs should tell the Prime Minister today that just as LIVES are important LIVELIHOOD of the poor is important.</p>.<p>However, lives, appeared having precedence in the meeting in which Chief Ministers cutting across party lines favoured extending the lockdown, although everyone had some new element in his suggestion.</p>.<p>Most of the Chief Ministers, who attended the meet, asked the Prime Ministers to extend the period of 21-day nationwide lockdown, which otherwise comes to an end on April 14. Two of them Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh have already increased the lock-down in their respective states till April 30 and May 1st respectively.</p>.<p>The Prime Minister on his part told the Chief Ministers that he is available to them 24x7 and stands by them in all circumstances and urged Chief Ministers to work in close tandem with the Centre in the fight against COVID-19.</p>.<p>This is the third video conference of Modi with Chief Ministers in less than a month since the outbreak of COVID-19.</p>.<p>In the PM-CM video conferencing on the day 18 of the lockdown, Shiv Sena’s CM Uddhav Thackeray, whose state Maharashtra is in a vice-like grip of the pandemic, pitched strongly for increasing the lockdown along with UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.</p>.<p>Telangana, Rajasthan,Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and Haryana were also for extending lockdown to check the spread of the disease.</p>.<p>Health Ministry is also of the view that the lockdown is needed for three more weeks (till May 1st) to flatten the curve even as it has repeatedly denied any community transmission so far, a fear that has been expressed a number of times from different eminent persons, the latest being the Punjab Chief Minister on Friday.</p>.<p>Before the meeting, while Congress President Sonia Gandhi spoke to party state chiefs, P Chidambaram also enquired with Congress Chief Ministers—Captain Amarinder Singh (Punjab) Ashok Gehlot (Rajasthan), Bhupesh Bhagel (Chhattisgarh) and V Narayanaswami (Puducherry) as well as Uddhav Thackeray Chief Minister of Maharasthra, a state in which Congress is a junior partner in the government and Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, his home state E K Palaniswami,</p>.<p>In the meeting, which was addressed by the Prime Minister wearing a home-made mask and all CMs also sporting face masks, the central government gave a message to all people to cover faces.</p>.<p>The meeting saw a consensus-building up for extending lockdown. Delhi CM wanted Modi to extend lockdown till April 30. Even if there are some relaxations, he felt public transport should not be opened. He wanted the Centre to decide on modalities of the lockdown extension.</p>.<p>Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Baghel pitched for lockdown with a human face but said the state government is with Centre if the latter decides to extend lockdown.</p>.<p>West Bengal Chief Minister Banerjee, whose government imposed total lockdown in 10 hotspots in the state, ahead of the meeting, said that the GDP of the states has fallen after lockdown and sought a relief package for all states. Punjab wanted Rs 500 crore from Centre for augmenting hospitals in the state and supply of testing kits, besides relief for farmers.</p>.<p>Some of the suggestions that emerged in the meeting are to ensure stringent lockdown in hotspots, provide some relaxation in unaffected districts, there should be door-to-door screening in highly affected areas. One notable suggestion was to completely lock down those districts, which have a large number of hotspots.</p>.<p>Before the PM meeting, Chidambaram asked the Chief Ministers that they should demand the Centre to transfer cash to every poor family immediately.</p>.<p>Remonetise the poor should be their unanimous demand. The poor have lost their jobs or self-employment in the last 18 days. They have exhausted their meagre savings. Many are standing in line for food. Can the State stand by and watch them go hungry? the former finance minister asked. </p>.<p>The issue had an echo in the meeting as a number of Chief Ministers drew attention towards the plight of the migrant labours, who are stuck up in various cities where they have now been rendered unemployed and cannot go back to their home towns.</p>
<p>Fifteen minutes before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s crucial interaction with Chief Ministers on lockdown vis a vis COVID 19 expansion began, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the Congress CMs should tell the Prime Minister today that just as LIVES are important LIVELIHOOD of the poor is important.</p>.<p>However, lives, appeared having precedence in the meeting in which Chief Ministers cutting across party lines favoured extending the lockdown, although everyone had some new element in his suggestion.</p>.<p>Most of the Chief Ministers, who attended the meet, asked the Prime Ministers to extend the period of 21-day nationwide lockdown, which otherwise comes to an end on April 14. Two of them Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh have already increased the lock-down in their respective states till April 30 and May 1st respectively.</p>.<p>The Prime Minister on his part told the Chief Ministers that he is available to them 24x7 and stands by them in all circumstances and urged Chief Ministers to work in close tandem with the Centre in the fight against COVID-19.</p>.<p>This is the third video conference of Modi with Chief Ministers in less than a month since the outbreak of COVID-19.</p>.<p>In the PM-CM video conferencing on the day 18 of the lockdown, Shiv Sena’s CM Uddhav Thackeray, whose state Maharashtra is in a vice-like grip of the pandemic, pitched strongly for increasing the lockdown along with UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.</p>.<p>Telangana, Rajasthan,Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and Haryana were also for extending lockdown to check the spread of the disease.</p>.<p>Health Ministry is also of the view that the lockdown is needed for three more weeks (till May 1st) to flatten the curve even as it has repeatedly denied any community transmission so far, a fear that has been expressed a number of times from different eminent persons, the latest being the Punjab Chief Minister on Friday.</p>.<p>Before the meeting, while Congress President Sonia Gandhi spoke to party state chiefs, P Chidambaram also enquired with Congress Chief Ministers—Captain Amarinder Singh (Punjab) Ashok Gehlot (Rajasthan), Bhupesh Bhagel (Chhattisgarh) and V Narayanaswami (Puducherry) as well as Uddhav Thackeray Chief Minister of Maharasthra, a state in which Congress is a junior partner in the government and Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, his home state E K Palaniswami,</p>.<p>In the meeting, which was addressed by the Prime Minister wearing a home-made mask and all CMs also sporting face masks, the central government gave a message to all people to cover faces.</p>.<p>The meeting saw a consensus-building up for extending lockdown. Delhi CM wanted Modi to extend lockdown till April 30. Even if there are some relaxations, he felt public transport should not be opened. He wanted the Centre to decide on modalities of the lockdown extension.</p>.<p>Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Baghel pitched for lockdown with a human face but said the state government is with Centre if the latter decides to extend lockdown.</p>.<p>West Bengal Chief Minister Banerjee, whose government imposed total lockdown in 10 hotspots in the state, ahead of the meeting, said that the GDP of the states has fallen after lockdown and sought a relief package for all states. Punjab wanted Rs 500 crore from Centre for augmenting hospitals in the state and supply of testing kits, besides relief for farmers.</p>.<p>Some of the suggestions that emerged in the meeting are to ensure stringent lockdown in hotspots, provide some relaxation in unaffected districts, there should be door-to-door screening in highly affected areas. One notable suggestion was to completely lock down those districts, which have a large number of hotspots.</p>.<p>Before the PM meeting, Chidambaram asked the Chief Ministers that they should demand the Centre to transfer cash to every poor family immediately.</p>.<p>Remonetise the poor should be their unanimous demand. The poor have lost their jobs or self-employment in the last 18 days. They have exhausted their meagre savings. Many are standing in line for food. Can the State stand by and watch them go hungry? the former finance minister asked. </p>.<p>The issue had an echo in the meeting as a number of Chief Ministers drew attention towards the plight of the migrant labours, who are stuck up in various cities where they have now been rendered unemployed and cannot go back to their home towns.</p>