Maharashtra: Centre is not in favour of weekend lockdown

In view of the rising havoc of the Coronavirus in Maharashtra, the state government last Sunday announced the imposition of Weekend lockdown on weekends in the state. That is, theaters, restaurants, malls and bars in Maharashtra will be completely closed on Saturday and Sunday.

On Friday last week, a high level meeting was held under the chairmanship of the Cabinet Secretary regarding the worsening situation of Corona.

Although the government did not give any resolution to impose the lockdown after this meeting, but suddenly on Sunday, the government announced the imposition of the lockdown on the weekend.

It is believed that the central government is not in favor of weekend lockdown.

According to the English newspaper Indian Express, the government argues that weekend lockdowns are not very effective to curb the infection of Corona. Two weeks ago, the Center had informed the Maharashtra government about this.

The newspaper has claimed, quoting government sources, that during the high level meeting, the maximum time was given to the cabinet secretary of Maharashtra.

Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan wrote a letter to Maharashtra Chief Secretary Sitaram Kunte on March 15, the day 16,620 new coronas were revealed in Maharashtra. In this letter, Rajesh Bhushan had said that emphasis should be laid on creating a strict and effective containment zone and not on lockdown.

Bhushan wrote in his letter, "Night curfew, weekend lockdowns prove to be a very weak step in stopping transmission. Therefore, the district administration should work on the strategy of a strict and effective containment zone. ''

In the country, about 50% of new cases of corona patients are coming out from Maharashtra itself. On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a meeting with the Chief Ministers to review the current status of Covid. Earlier on Sunday, the Prime Minister had a meeting with senior officials.

In this meeting, it was decided to send a team of public health experts and doctors to Punjab, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh .