Its been one month since India has been brought under the unprecedented experiment of the nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of Coronavirus. Initially, the lockdown was imposed till April 14th and it has been extended till May 3rd after the virus has got the grounds of the rampant spread. The country has been aiming to flatten the curve of the infected cases and the nation is pedaling with the speculations on whether the lockdown would be extended beyond May 3rd. 

According to the sources, the prefix of the discussions over further extension would be written when Prime Minister Narendra Modi sits for the virtual meeting with the Chief Ministers on April 27th (Monday) during which the Prime Minister would take stock of the situation across the country. Although the country has been reporting more cases each day, it also has been recording more discharges. 

However, the Central government has been criticized for its slow-paced approach on enhancing the testing capabilities, identifying the source of the infection even after marking the first month of the lockdown. 

The Prime Minister chaired a meeting with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and higher officials of the finance ministry on April 23rd (Thursday) concerning the report from the World Health Organization that warned the Indian government that it would largely encounter the economic and unemployment crisis even if the lockdown has been revoked. Modi reviewed the assistance provided by the Central government to the affected people. 

Our source said that the Central government has spent Rs 31,235 crore towards relief measures and assistance till April 22nd through which over 33 crore people had benefitted. The government would likely pour relaxations to the non-hotspots districts across India letting some of the industries to resume the operations. However, the Union Health Ministry has been putting out the current developments and advising the Prime Minister not to provide any relaxations that would ease the movements of the people at this time.

Upon receiving such inputs, 7 Lok Kalyan Marg has been considering to extend the lockdown beyond May 3rd letting the embargo to play its role amid the ailing economy, plight of the migrant crisis, and warnings of hunger pandemic. Following the Central government, the state government of Tamil Nadu has issued directives to the district collectors and superintendents of police to let the people come out only if they possess valid passes and it has asked the district administrations to grip up the security and seize the vehicles of people who violated the lockdown rules. 

Recently, Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami has convened a meeting with some of the top businessmen of the state during which the Chief Minister stated that the government would decide on letting the companies resume the operations after May 3rd and he has asked the companies to ensure that they adhere to the guidelines and run the operations with minimal manpower and they should wear the protective equipment.