PM Modi holds 2-day virtual meet with chief ministers for ground report on COVID-19 situation

Last updated on February 14th, 2023 at 11:18 am

In view of the rising Coronavirus infections across India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 16 held the first round of two-day video conference with chief ministers of the states. Reportedly, PM Modi’s meeting with the chief minister will take place on June 16 and June 17, for which the states and Union Territories have been divided into two groups. On June  16, PM Modi held a video conference with CMs, Lt Governors, and other officials from 21 states and UTs including Kerala, Jharkhand, Punjab, northeastern states, and few UTs.

During the meeting, he discussed the COVID-19 situation around the regions in detail and asserted that timely decisions and handling of the crisis helped in containing coronavirus in the country.

On June 17, he will hold talks with the rest 15 states/UTs which are hard-hit by the virus, including Maharashtra and Delhi. Significantly, the states have been divided into two groups based on the intensity of the impact of the pandemic in the areas.

This is notably the sixth round of interaction between PM Modi and states CMs taking the analysis of the COVID-19 situation across the regions. As per reports, the focus of the meetings will be on ways to ensure that the death rate/fatality rate from the virus remains low. On June 13, Modi reviewed all the measures taken by state governments to combat the spread of the pandemic. Furthermore, Home Minister Amit Shah held an all-party meeting on June 15 amid surging cases in the national capital and discussed the plans to amplify testing to 18,000 by June 20.

From June 8, India started unlocking its economy in phases allowing more business activities to operate in various sectors. As part of the Modi government’s ‘Unlock 1’ plan, graded easing of restriction will take place in three phases in less and moderate containment zones, while the lockdown has been extended in high containment areas till June 30. Even as the number of infected cases continues to surge across the country, several CMs including Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray dismissed reports of reimposition of lockdown to control the transmission.

Analysing the COVID-19 situation till June 30, the administration will review the decision on the second phase of unlocking the economic activities which include the reopening of educational institutions to take place in July. Additionally, in the third and last phase, international air travel, metro services, and public places such as cinema halls, gyms, swimming pools, theatres, bars, entertainment parts and auditoriums, among other are likely to resume.

Read: India’s COVID-19 recovery rate improves to 52%

As of June 16, India has reported over 3.45 lakh Coronavirus positive cases, making India the fourth worst-affected country in the world. While more than 1.8 lakh people have recovered from the virus, almost 9,900 people have lost their lives to the disease.