On Friday, in the wake of increased number of coronavirus cases in India, the Punjab Government has decided to extend the curfew in the state from April 14 to May 1, 2020. This step by state government has been taken in order to avoid the community spread of COVID-19 in the states as the number of confirmed cases in Punjab is increasing day by day at speeding rate.
Lockdown in Punjab extended till May 1
A meeting of the Council of Ministers was held which was chaired by Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, in order to check community spread of the pandemic as well as to avoid the overcrowding at the Mandis in the light of the following wheat harvesting/procurement season.
As per to an official spokesperson, Captain Amarinder is also going to convey the decision to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday at the conference with the chief ministers.
Special Chief Secretary KBS Sidhu took twitter to made the announcement, he tweeted, “PUNJAB CABINET @capt_amarinder UNANIMOUSLY APPROVES EXTENSION OF PUNJAB CURFEW/ LOCKDOWN till 30 April, 2020/1st May, 2020. Extension by 21 days from today. Strict enforcement (sic),”
Quoting the grim estimates about the spread of the coronavirus in the upcoming weeks, the Chief Minister had also said that the restrictions of curfew were important so that the medical infrastructure is not held back further than its capabilities.
There was general agreement in the medical community that the lockdown restrictions would only postpone the spread of the disease, he said, expecting that some medication/cure would be found very soon.
The Council of Ministers on a proposal by the Chief Minister has also decided to set up a multi-disciplinary task force in order to formulate an exit strategy for steady relaxation of curfew/lockdown.
The task force is going to submit its report within ten days period of time. The task force is going to be comprised of about 15 members signifying trade, business, industry, agriculture, civil society as well as health care professionals. The Chief Minister on the other hand, has been approved to decide on the composition of the task force.
In the meantime, the Cabinet has also approved the formation of a high-powered committee for suggesting a road map for economic revival of the State in post-COVID era as soon as the crisis softens as well as normal working is restored.
Additionally, Captain Amarinder also stated he is going to request former Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Ahluwalia to head this committee.
