JOIN USMove on to revive economy with precautions: PM Narendra Modi
Giving clear indication of no further lockdown due to COVID-19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India can move forward on the path of economic recovery, limiting harms due to the pandemic with precaution.
Addressing Chief Ministers of 21 states and Union Territories on the first day of his two-day video conferring with states after completion of a fortnight of Unlock 1.0, Modi cited over 51 percent recovery rate in the country to buttress the point that even as all modes of transport are now open, lakhs of migrant labourers have travelled back to their villages and thousands of Indians have returned from abroad. Coronavirus has not assumed as life threatening a form in India as in the rest of the world, he said.
“India is in the forefront of those nations, where lives of Corona infected persons are being saved. India is one of those countries, where the least number of deaths due to Corona has taken place,” Modi said.
He said it is because India took timey decisions. “We have toiled day and night to save life of every Indian,” Modi said inviting suggestions from the CMs on the future course. This was his sixth meeting with Chief Ministers in the last three months, starting on March 20, four days before he had announced the first national lockdown for 21 days, which got extended to 68 days in installments till May 30.
Discussing the situation emerging post Unlock 1.0 since June 1 and the strategy ahead for tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, Modi said that timely decisions taken to combat the pandemic have been effective in containing its spread in the country.
Clearly indicating the government’s priority of not letting economic revival be compromised in the fight against coronavirus, Modi underscored the importance of being focused on both life and livelihood. He said that on the one hand, health infrastructure will need to be boosted with emphasis on testing and tracing, economic activity will also need to be increased on the other hand.
“The decisions need to be taken keeping in view both current needs and future requirements,” he said while asking the states to continuously keep driving the fact that danger of the virus is not over yet, and the need to remain vigilant while opening up the economy.
Home Minister Amit Shah said that while we have so far fought a successful battle against the pandemic, the road ahead is long and suggestions given by the Prime Minister regarding use of mask/face cover, maintaining 'do gaz doori', etc should be followed by all.
The Prime Minister noted that with the efforts of the past few week, green shoots in the economy are visible, including rise in power consumption which was earlier falling, fertiliser sale in May this year sees a significant increase, a healthy increase in Kharif sowing in comparison to last year, production of two wheelers increasing, digital payment in retail reaching pre lockdown level, increase in toll collection in May and bouncing back of exports. These signals are encouraging us to forge ahead.
He also dwelt on how the steps for “Atmanirbhar Bharat” will give fillip to trade and industry and the benefits set to accrue to farmers through reforms in the agriculture sector, including new avenues to sell produce, increase in income which in turn would increase demand in the economy.
Punjab, Assam, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Goa, Manipur, Nagaland, Ladakh, Puducherry, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Dadra Nagar Haveli & Daman Diu, Sikkim and Lakshadweep provided feedback about existing health infrastructure in their states and efforts for augmentation to tackle the impact of the virus.
In an earlier meeting that Modi held with senior ministers and officials on June 13 to review India’s response to COVID-19 pandemic, it was flagged that out of the total cases two-thirds are in five states with an overwhelming proportion of cases in big cities.
Modi will interact with CMs of five states—Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh in another batch on June 17 alongwith other states with high case-loads like Rajasthan, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh (all above 10 thousand cases).