Convert COVID-19 challenge into opportunity: PM Modi tells CMs

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday asked states to try to convert the COVID-19 challenge into opportunities through administrative reforms, and form their own policies on relaxing the lockdown based on ground reality, the Maharashtra Chief Minister's Office here said. In a video conference with chief ministers, Modi indicated that the coronavirus infection would remain for a longer time, beyond May 3, and people need to continue the use of masks and sanitisers for longer period, CM Uddhav Thackeray's office said in a statement.

"Though the extended lockdown period ends on May 3, every state will have to decide its policy of introducing relaxation in the existing stringent guidelines. This would include how to permit road traffic, whether senior citizens should come out of homes, how to allow shops to operate, among others, it said. The prime minister also advised the states to explore all possibilities of converting the existing challenge into opportunities by bringing reforms in the administration and policies.

"It is not a crime that the number of COVID-19 cases are increasing in some states. Do not take the pressure of the rising numbers, because the entire country is facing the challenge posed by coronavirus," the prime minister told the states. As India enters final week of the lockdown, Prime Minister Modi on Monday conveyed to chief ministers that the country will have to give importance to the economy as well as to continue the fight against coronavirus. During the video conference with the chief ministers, fourth such interaction since March 22 when he first spoke to them on the pandemic, Modi also highlighted the importance for states to enforce prescribed guidelines strictly in the coronavirus hotspots zones, the central government said in a statement.