Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to have a video conference with chief ministers on Saturday to discuss the next course of action with the three-week lockdown to halt the coronavirus pandemic scheduled to end on April 14. Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma spoke to Sunetra Choudhury about the meeting, what the way forward should be at the national level and in his state. Edited excerpts:
Your Odisha counterpart, Naveen Patnaik, has announced an extension of the lockdown till April end. Are you likely to follow suit?
I think the lockdown definition is the crucial part. What does one really mean by that? One thing is for sure, the inter-state and the movement at a national level is something that states want not to happen at this point. Does that mean that a state as a whole also locks down? That is a call that we have to take in every state.
In Meghalaya, we want a lockdown in terms of the inter-state movement. But [the curbs on] small activities like farming or MGNREGS , which involve local people or even small constructions , daily wage people, could be relaxed.
Are you saying this because your state has not reported any coronavirus cases yet?
I am speaking from both perspectives. From the national perspective, it is advisable that we continue with the lockdown in terms of movement.
When it comes to my state, the challenge that we are facing is the balance between health concerns and the livelihood and economic activity of the poor. As a government, we are looking at striking a balance, which is not always the easiest thing to do.
Is the Centre open to this?
If you remember even in the beginning, the Centre allowed certain concessions . The general consensus is that there should not be inter-district movement of people and there should not be any kind of gatherings. At the end of the day, essential commodities need to move. So there has been flexibility for that from the beginning. I think farming should be considered now because it is also the time for sowing.
What has been the impact of the lockdown on mental health given two labourers in Meghalaya have committed suicide?
It is unfortunate that those incidents took place but these are testing times.
In situations like this, it is not as easy for us to always go to the micro level although we would like to. But we are forced to look at the overall picture. This [lockdown] was a tough decision and I understand people are facing a lot of problems. I can only urge people to see that this is being done to guard everybody’s interest and health. We will do all we can to help the poor and needy.
Did Modi’s announcement for the national lockdown take you by surprise or you knew about it?
Of course, there was a hint in our different discussions… but not on the extent [of the lockdown]. Even now, we do have an idea about where we are heading to but we will have to wait and see what is going to be there. The PM has been proactive in consulting chief ministers…
What kind of economic impact do you see for your state?
I think there is no doubt about the huge impact… The smaller and weaker sections, the daily wage labourers are the people we need to look at. Overall, we are going to see a lot of impact on service sectors like tourism.
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