Lockdown 4.0 will be altogether new in format: PM Modi

A day after his interaction with 30 chief ministers, many of whom pitched for extending lockdown beyond May 17, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday made it clear that the contours of Lockdown 4.0 will be completely different from the three other lockdowns in the past.

“On the basis of recommendations received from states, new rules will be framed, and information about the same will be conveyed before May 18,” the Prime Minister announced in his fifth address to the nation giving clear indications that states will have to play a far bigger role in Lockdown 4.0 than in the past where Centre was leading from the front.

Follow live updates on coronavirus

Making clear that the nation cannot remain in strict lockdown forever, the Prime Minister noted that though several experts and scientists have said that the virus is going to be part of our lives for a long time, it is also important to ensure that our life does-not revolve only around coronavirus.

He exhorted people to work towards their targets while taking precautions like wearing masks and maintaining ‘do gaz doori’ (two yards distance)

Modi’s enunciation on the fourth stage of lockdown, being in an altogether new format, seeks to strike a balance between life and livelihood in sync with what he said at the Chief Minister’s conference yesterday of “Jan se Jag Tak” (From People to the World). While announcing the lockdown for the first time for 21 days on March 24, the Prime Minister had said ‘Jaan Hai to Jahan Hai”, which he later qualified with “Jaan Bhi, Jahan Bhi”. The third lockdown ends on May 17 and completes 54 days of total lockdown of 21 days, then 19 days and then 14 days. The Lockdown 4.0 may be for close to two weeks. Bihar wanted lockdown till May end while Maharashtra for two weeks more. Telangana has on its own extended till May 29.

In the video conference meeting with CMs, Modi, seeking to shift the focus on containment zones in the coming days, said he is of the firm view that as measures needed in the first phase were not needed in the second phase, similarly, the measures needed in the third phase will not be needed in in the fourth.

The Prime Minister had also requested all the chief ministers to share with him a broad strategy on how they would deal with the lockdown regime in their states by May 15. The Prime Minister's Office is said to be in favour of giving states more freedom to decide on the restrictions. “We now have a reasonably clear indication as to the geographical spread of the pandemic in India, including the worst affected areas,” Modi had said.