12:14 May 12
PM Modi to address nation at 8 PM as 'lockdown dilemma' continues
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to address the nation at 8 PM today, as the country awaits an exit strategy from the coronavirus-induced nationwide lockdown.
With the third leg of the lockdown coming to an end on May 17, PM Modi held talks with states’ chief ministers to discuss the road ahead. This was the fifth such discussion between PM Modi and state heads since the coronavirus outbreak.
PM Modi underlined the significance of any path India chose with a concise remark: “We must understand that the world has fundamentally changed post-COVID-19. Now the world will be pre-corona, post-corona just like the case of the World Wars. And this would entail significant changes in how we function.”
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While the central question in the deliberation remained the fate of the lockdown—whether to lift or extend it after May 17—there were indications that there would be no blanket policy.
In the geographical spectrum, at one extreme there would be zones with a substantial easing of curbs on economic activities while at the other there would be rules that are still enforced in containment zones. The prime concern was two-pronged as it were—to kick-start the economy that is currently in doldrums, and to prevent further spread of the contagion especially to India’s rural swaths.