Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation on Tuesday at 8 pm, just a day after marathon meetings with chief ministers of states where he hinted at the possibility of the lockdown being extended but with curbs further eased.
Taking to Twitter, PMO India wrote: “Shri Narendra Modi will be addressing the nation at 8 PM this evening.” This will be Modi’s fourth address to the nation on the Covid-19 situation. He had last addressed the nation on April 14, and announced the extension of lockdown till May 3. In his first address, he had called for a Janata Curfew, after which he took the airwaves again to announced the lockdown nationwide.
Yesterday, he said he was of the firm view that the measures needed in the first three phases of lockdown were not needed “in the fourth”, and asked the states to come up with a roadmap by May 15 on how to deal with various aspects of the gradual easing of the lockdown.
In a video conference, which lasted for nearly six hours, Modi held extensive discussions on various aspects of the situation arising out of the pandemic and the nationwide lockdown, and said country will have to devise a balanced strategy to revive the economy and deal with COVID-19 with a sharp focus on ensuring that rural areas remain free from the pandemic.
The 54-day nationwide lockdown since March 25 to contain the spread of coronavirus is scheduled to end on May 17.
On Monday, he told the CM’s that India faced two challenges – reducing the transmission rate of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and resuming public activity gradually.
He also emphasised that social distancing remains the “biggest weapon” against the virus till a vaccine is found, and suggested that the lockdown may not be lifted entirely.
PM Modi also said that India now had a good sense of the spread of the disease, and urged states to carefully examine specific geographical areas to come up with a road map for the next phase of lockdown.
-India Legal Bureau