Unlock 1: PM's Interaction With CMs Of 21 States, UTs Today At 3 PM; Why States Have Been Divided In 2 Groups?

The crucial interaction comes at a time when several economic activities have been started in the country, even as India has reached 4th place in terms of maximum infections and at 9th position in the world in terms of death toll.

(PTI Photo)

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be holding an interaction with Chief Ministers/ Lieutenant Governors of 21 states and Union Territories on Tuesday, his first such talk after unlock 1. The talk will take place via video conferencing and will commence at 3 pm today.  He will be holding talks with the Chief Ministers of rest of the states and the LG of Jammu & Kashmir tomorrow. This comes at a time when several economic activities have been started in the country, even as India has reached 4th place in terms of maximum infections and at 9th position in the world in terms of death toll. India has over 3.32 lakh cases and over 9.5k deaths due to Covid-19. The interaction today will include Chief Ministers of Punjab, Assam, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Goa, Manipur, Nagaland, Ladakh, Puducherry, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Sikkim. PM will hold talks with the Chief Ministers of 15 states inlcuding Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday. These 15 states are Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Gujarat, Rajasthan, UP, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Telangana and Odisha. Why this grouping has been done? It can be seen that in the first set of states and UTs, those are included which are not severely impacted by Covid-19. The worst-affected ones in the first set are Assam,Punjab and Kerala with 4049, 3140 and 2461 total cases. While in the second set of states and UTs, those have been taken which are gravely impacted. Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Gujarat are the worst hit states of the country.  Apart from that, Rajasthan, UP, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Telangana and Odisha, all are facing serious implications of the crisis. The second round of the talks will be very crucial as these states contribute maximum to India's total Covid-19 tally. This will be Prime Minister’s sixth such interaction with the heads of the states, since outbreak of Coronavirus in the country. The Prime Minister and Chief Ministers are expected to share notes on how states are dealing with the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the country and the way forward. Also Watch: