Telangana decides to extend lockdown till April 30, sends a list of demands to Centre

With the number of COVID-19 positive cases in Telangana crossing the 500-mark on Saturday, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao announced that the State Cabinet has decided to extend the complete lockdown till April 30 in the larger interests of people and appealed to the people to continue the same spirit of staying indoors and maintain social distancing norm to further contain the spread of the corona virus in the state.

Further, the Cabinet has decided to provide uninterrupted water supply to the farmers for their irrigation facilities in the State till April 15. The Cabinet has decided to exempt lockdown regulations to key sectors like food processing, agriculture, farming operations and related activities for smooth harvesting and ensure food security in the state.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao said the state government will be sending two letters to the central government informing the Cabinet decision to extend the lockdown period by another two weeks, and another letter putting forth key demands before the central government.

The Chief Minister sought relaxation of the fiscal limit of Telangana under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act from 3 per cent to 6 per cent. In another significant demand, the Telangana government asked the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MNREGA) to bear 50 per cent of farm wages and the remaining 50 per cent will be borne by the state government. “While we enforce the lockdown in all its seriousness, we should not lose sight of major challenges in front of us. Most of the people in the state are in informal and unorganised sectors. Their livelihoods have to be protected through the lockdown period. We have asked the central government that NREGA should bear 50 per cent of farm wages, the rest will be borne by the state government. The Cabinet also decided to seek relaxation in FRBM so as to ensure that the State’s finances are not adversely impacted. The state revenues have declined significantly and therefore the central government should relax FRBM by at least 6 per cent,” he said.

Further, the Telangana government sought a moratorium on state loan repayments to be extended by at least to six months. The Chief Minister said the Cabinet has not taken a decision on conducting the SSC examinations. “A decision on the same will be taken soon,” he said.

The Chief Minister said the number of positive cases in the state rose to 503 positive cases, 14 deaths were reported. “93 people including foreign returnees, the Indonesian group were discharged after treatment. Around 1,200 Markaz attendees and those who came in contact with them were identified. Fortunately, the numbers of cases are slowly on the decline. Hopefully, things should fall in place by April 30,” he said.