New Delhi: A crucial meeting of the chief ministers will be held on Monday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi would interact with the CMs of all states and UTs to discuss the coronavirus situation.
The key agenda of the meeting would be relating to the migrants labour, who are stuck in various parts of the country. During a meeting chaired by Union Cabinet Secretary, Rajiv Gauba with the chief secretaries of the states, this point had come up for discussion.
The PM during his interaction is likely to ask the states, if they are ready to take back the migrants. A road map on how to go about this too would be discussed during the meeting.
Further the meeting would discuss the guidelines to set in place regarding opening of industries and other services outside the containment zones. The PM would also take stock of the situation and advise states which are not implementing the lockdown correctly to do so more stringently.
A top official told OneIndia that the PM is unhappy with the way in which some states are enforcing the lockdown. This is a very crucial stage of the battle abasing the coronavirus and all states and UTs must adhere to the norms set by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The PM would reiterate that the checking needs to be uniform in nature. He would also tell the states focus would need to be on the containment zones even while relaxing the restrictions.
The officer cited above said, while the Centre could issue broad guidelines, states would have to take a call depending on the situation. While easing of norms without the required checks would not be a feasible option, the states are free to impose stricter restrictions depending on the situation.
States such as Bihar have said that it would be hard for the state to take a call on such issues all by itself. Hence, the Centre would need to come up with a protocol. During the meeting of the Chief Secretaries, West Bengal said that the situation is under control. However Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla said that there are a several loaded trucks stuck at the Indo-Bangladesh border and this would need urgent action. During the meeting with the PM, the Kerala CM would raise the issue of Indians stuck abroad. There are around 5 lakh Malayali workers stuck abroad and they would need to be brought back. The state is under immense pressure on this issue, Kerala’s chief secretary Tom Jose had pointed out.