Cabinet Secy Chairs Meeting With Chief Secretaries, Health Secy's Of States, UTs; Discussion On Lockdown 5.0 On Cards?

The meeting will also include municipal commissioners and district magistrates of 13 Covid- hit cities in the country that include Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai.

Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba

New Delhi: Amid speculations of lockdown 5.0, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba will hold a meeting with Chief Secretaries and Principal Health Secretaries of all states/union territories of the country at 11:30 am via  video conference on the issue of ‘Public health response to Covid-19.’ The meeting will also include municipal commissioners and district magistrates of 13 Covid- hit cities in the country that include Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, and Chennai. Municipal commissioners of Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi/New Delhi, Ahmadabad, Thane, Pune, Hyderabad, Kolkata/Howrah, Indore (Madhya Pradesh), Jaipur, Jodhpur, Chengalpattu (Tamil Nadu) and Thiruvallur (Tamil Nadu) will attend the meeting, a Home Ministry official was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. District magistrates or collectors of the districts concerned will also join the meeting, the official said. The meeting acquires the utmost significance as Lockdown 4.0 is scheduled to end on May 31 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Mann Ki Baat’ radio address is also scheduled on the same day.  The Cabinet Secy will seek details of the Covid-19 situation from the representatives of the states and UTs in the meeting.  The meeting may also see a discussion on whether or not the states want to extend the lockdown. Earlier on May 17,  Gauba held discussions with top officials of the states. Discussion related to the running of trains and a review of the efforts of different states in combating the Corona crisis was conducted. On Wednesday, the government cleared the air around lockdown 5.0 claims, terming it to be "mere speculations". India is currently under Lockdown 4.0 which is scheduled to end on May 31. Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) Spokesperson took to Twitter and clarified that all claims with 'inside details 'about Lockdown 5 from MHA sources are mere speculations. To attribute them to MHA is incorrect and being irresponsible.