Madhurima
NEW DELHI: Led by the defence minister, Rajnath Singh a meeting will take place with GoMs (group of ministers) at New Delhi, in order to discuss whether the ongoing national lockdown should be extended in order to fight the coronavirus outbreak as well as other major issues.
As per some reports, the meeting of ministers will also be attended by Amit Shah, the Union home minister. He will be considering the recommendations from 11 empowered groups which have been established to look after various aspects of India's response to the outbreak. The reports also claimed that the decision can be made even by the end of the week, depending on the figures of the affected people.
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A total of 80% per cent of cases are from 62 districts, these districts will most probably get an extended lockdown. The areas include some parts of Mumbai and Delhi.
Niti Aayog member Dr Vinod Paul, who is leading one of the 11 empowered groups mentioned before said, "There is no decision yet on how the lockdown will be lifted,’’ he said. “We are assessing the cost of the lockdown economically with the lives that need to be saved."
There have been representatives like the chief secretary of Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister of Telangana, a senior bureaucrat in Punjab and a Maharashtra minister who are all in favour of extending the lockdown.
The decision would also be based on the economic cost of the lockdown and the impact of it on daily wage workers and the unorganised sector if there is an extension.
As per some ministers, remote areas with less population may be allowed to reopen if most of the workers lived in and around the location.
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Another official revealed, "There is also major pressure from foreign companies to start India operations with reduced staff."
