Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said saving lives and reviving livelihoods should go together in India’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic , a pointer that opening up the economy would continue apace after weeks of the lockdown.
In the first part of his two-part videoconference with Chief Ministers (he had an interaction with 21 Chief Ministers and Lt. Governors on Tuesday), he emphasised that while green shoots were visible in the weeks since “Unlock1” kicked in, strict adherence to the discipline of fighting COVID-19 by wearing masks, observing social distancing, frequent hand-washing and maintaining hygiene was important and couldn’t be allowed to flag “even for a minute”.
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“Every life is important to us and we mourn all whom we have lost to the disease. The world has, however, also taken note of the fact that India, despite its size and complexity, has managed to keep its casualties low,” he said. In the two weeks that ‘Unlock1’ was on, certain green shoots in the economy had emerged, including increased power consumption, June figures of exports being nearly pre-COVD-19 levels, fertilizer sales being up, and a 12-13% hike in the areas sown under kharif crops.
“In many States, where the share of horticulture, agriculture and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) is high as per their economy, there have been several decisions taken under the Aatmanirbharta [self-reliance] campaign to boost such sectors. I would ask the State government to come up with policies to handhold small enterprises and also to work with banks so that credit, available under the Aatmanirbharta campaign is available to entrepreneurs and industry,” he said.
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Trade and industry value chain should be smoothened over and farmers told about the reforms in terms of freeing up the agricultural markets. “Once farmers’ incomes rise, demand will rise too,” he said.
Among the 21 Chief Ministers and Lt. Governors present at this meeting were Pinarayi Vijayan of Kerala, Biplab Deb of Tripura, Bhupesh Baghel of Chattisgarh and Captain Amarinder Singh of Punjab.
Captain Singh wanted the Union government to give relief on the constitutionalities attached to the enhanced borrowing limit to the States after the Centre tweaked the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2003.
Pinarayi Vijayan’s plea
Mr. Vijayan, whose State is dealing with a large influx of expatriates from the Gulf countries coming in, said the Indian embassies should facilitate COVID-19 tests for those returning to India, and that the Centre should make test kits available for NRIs.
Mr. Deb thanked Mr. Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for raising the import duty on bamboo sticks, a prime product of the State, to 25% .
The second set of meetings will happen on Wednesday, with Chief Ministers and Lt. Governors meeting Mr. Modi.
