lockdown part 1| corona effect| PM announcements|

‘Modi draws Laxman Rekha’ against Covid-19

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of a nation-wide lockdown for 21 days to arrest the spread of coronavirus in his trademark 8 pm speech, received almost full page coverage in newspapers across the country.

due to lockdown the Olympics won’t be making this year — newspapers report that the games have been postponed to next year.

The financial criteria were equally interested by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s moves on the economic front

The lead ‘India Under LockDown for 3 Weeks’ reiterates, the prime minister’s words of a “Lakshman Rekha” at people’s doorsteps — “Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday ramped up the fight against coronavirus by announcing that the entire country was being placed under lockdown — he called it as good as curfew — for 21 days starting midnight in order to break the chain of Covid-19 transmission…”

Modi asked people not to panic but TOI reports what actually happened: “As the 21-day lockdown sent people rushing late Tuesday to groceries and convenience stories and triggered panic buying, the PM tweeted, “My fellow citizens, THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO NEED TO PANIC.” In another tweet, he said, “By converging around shops, you are risking the spread of Covid-19.

• No panic buying please. 

• Please stay indoors. 

• Centre and state governments will ensure all essentials are available.”

But his pleas fell on deaf ears. 

The Indian Express notes the biggest takeaways from PM Modi’s speech — ‘1.3 billion, 21 days, lockdown is key’. The paper notes that this is the “Longest stay-at-home order…” Express quotes an evocative line from the speech: the lockdown is “essential for your safety and that of your family… jaan hai toh jahaan hai.”

His speech created as it failed to mention essential services would continue to function. In ‘Modi assures essentials open: rules underline adherence, with threat of penal action’, it writes, “Within minutes from his address, there were reports of panic buying for groceries and provisions from across the nation.”

As a result of the lockdown, another report, ‘Compliance norms eased for firms, FM says financial package sooner than later’, notes Sitharaman’s announcement of a “series of regulatory and compliance related relaxation for taxpayers.” 

Note here the photograph of Prime Minister Modi holding a chart during his address to the nation, explaining corona as koi – road par – na nikle(no one should be on the roads) in HT‘s lead story: ‘MODI DRAWS LAXMAN REKHA’. The papers reports, “[The PM]… emphasised the importance of “social distancing”… acknowledged the economic costs of the lockdown but underlined that the priority was to save lives; announced a ₹15,000 crore fund to strengthen the health infrastructure to deal with the pandemic; and assured citizens that the Centre and state governments were working to ensure adequate supplies, minimise inconvenience, and help the poor.”

If Modi announced a nationwide curfew, Kejriwal in ‘Delhi offers income support to labourers’. HT reports, “Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday announced a compensation of ₹5,000 each for all construction workers in the Capital in an attempt to make up for loss of income for daily wage labourers who are among the worst hit by the lockdown announced in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak.”

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