by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group
special report
Lifting of Lock-down
Centre’s Twin strategy as States Differ
30 states want Lock-down Relaxed
“Cluster Containment Plan” successful, says Govt.
Harish Gupta
New Delhi, April 7
The Centre is toying with the idea of allowing the states to take a decision as they deem fit to lift the lock-down after April 15.
Since states of UP, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Assam, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand have advocated continuation of lock-down due to situation prevailing in their states. But there are 30 other states & Union Territories which are pleading with the Centre to relax curbs to allow other activities.
The Centre today gave a big clue of its thinking saying, the “Cluster Containment Plan (Hot Spots)” has shown “good results”. Love Agrawal, senior Health Ministry official said that the situation on sensitive districts of “Agra, Gautam Budhh Nagar, Buldhana, Bhilwara and even Mumbai had shown considerable improvement.”
However, he evaded a direct reply on lock-down lifting as some states want its continuation, saying, “the Cabinet Secretary (read Committee of Secretaries) is looking into the issue.”
The Centre does not want to allow inter-state movement of regular traffic will be opened including rail and plane journey. It is for states to open local bus service within the district allow inter-district movement of passenger traffic. It is for the states to allow movement of certain category of private vehicles with strong riders and “Covid-19 clusters” be strictly out of bounds like a war zone.
The example set by Bhilwara in Rajasthan is a living example of its success what is now called the “Bhilwara formula.” Under this plan, the entire Bhilwara township with a population of 22 lakhs was locked down on March 20 itself. “Today, not a single case of Covid-19 has been identified after massive testing,” said a top government official.
The government is keeping a close-watch on the rising numbers of the Covid-19 cases and expressed satisfaction that no major out-break was witnessed from any cluster and more than one lakh testing was done.
The government is keen to bring the economy back on the rails and if the numbers stop rising in a big way after massive testing, the lock-down will be lifted in a partial manner.
Ends
