PM Modi to address nation at 8 pm today as lockdown enters last week

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be addressing the nation at 8 pm on Tuesday evening. It is the 48^th day of the ongoing lockdown with less than a week left for the third phase of the nationwide lockdown to end.

Prime Minister Modi will once again be addressing the nation this evening, announced the PMO Twitter handle. The PM’s address comes a day after he held an extensive meeting with chief ministers of states to discuss the lockdown and coronavirus situation across the country.

Prime Minister Modi had earlier made similar addresses to the nation to announce the lockdown and the first extension after the initial 21-day period. However, he skipped addressing the nation to announce the third phase of the lockdown till May 17. The announcement came from the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Prime Minister Modi on Monday held a crucial video conference meeting with chief ministers of state that went for six hours and discussed the coronavirus situation in the states. The chief ministers also spoke on the ongoing lockdown

While discussing the lockdown, PM Modi asked the chief ministers to share by May 15 a broad strategy on how they want to deal with lockdown regime in their states.

PM Modi called for a “balanced strategy” in the meeting with the chief ministers, to both revive the dwindling economy, as well as keep the fight against coronavirus on.

In a similar address to the nation on March 24, PM Modi had announced the lockdown that started on March 25. As of May 12, five days are left for the third phase of the lockdown to end. Meanwhile, coronavirus cases in India have crossed the 70,000-mark while the death toll has almost touched 2,300.

The third phase of the lockdown has seen a considerable easing of lockdown relaxations with liquor shops being opened across the three kinds of coronavirus zones.

Indian Railways has also started resuming train services from Tuesday with the first eight trains starting to run across different routes. Flight movements, however, continue to remain suspended.

In the chief ministers’ meeting with PM Modi, states like Delhi supported the Centre’s call for reviving economic activity while some others like West Bengal and Tamil Nadu objected to train movement and plans to resume flight services as well.

Source: IndiaToday.in