Karnataka ministers bat for 15-day lockdown extension

Yediyurappa said that his Cabinet colleagues are of the view that the lockdown should be extended by a fortnight considering the situation in the state

Karnataka’s Cabinet ministers have sought to extend the lockdown, but a final decision will be taken after discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said Thursday.

Yediyurappa, who chaired an emergency cabinet meeting, told reporters that his Cabinet colleagues are of the view that the lockdown should be extended by a fortnight considering the situation in the state.

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"We have also discussed relaxing norms at districts where COVID-19 cases are not reported. However, a final decision will be taken after PM reviewed the lockdown measures with chief ministers of all states on Friday," he said.

On Wednesday, an expert committee submitted its report to the government recommending continuation of the lockdown in COVID-19 hotspots, while allowing relaxation in places where the virus did not pose a problem.

Karnataka has been under lockdown since March 24, a day before the national lockdown was announced. The state currently stood 13th in the country in terms of the number of cases. The first coronavirus death in India was reported at Kalaburagi.

The Cabinet also promulgated three ordinances during the meeting. The first ordinance was for a 30 per cent deduction of salaries and allowances for all legislators for a year, amounting to Rs 15.36 crore. The amount will be transferred to CMs relief fund to fight the pandemic, Law Minister JC Madhuswamy said.

The second was permitting the deferment of GST remittals until June, while the third was regarding relaxations for farmers in few districts having cases under the provisions of Land Grabbing Act.

The state government will also distribute rations for two months to around 2.5 lakh people without ration cards, Madhuswamy added.