Indian states seek extension of nationwide lockdown to tackle COVID-19

The lockdown, which was called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Mar 24 night, is scheduled to end at Apr 14 midnight.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said he was in favour of the extension of the lockdown to save the lives.

"We can recover from the economic problem. But, we cannot get back lives," Rao told media.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, "We can bear the lockdown. We can also revive economy but we cannot get back the lost lives."

However, the Centre had earlier ruled out any possibility of the extension of lockdown.

Modi had asked the Chief Ministers to formulate a strategy for an exit from the lockdown in phases ensuring staggered movement of people post Apr 14 midnight.

While experts are fearing that the surge in the number of cases would overwhelm the poor health infrastructure of India, the Modi government has struggled to address the crisis of migrant workers who took to their feet to cross state borders to reach their homes in remote villages or towns.

Despite repeated assurances of sufficient food supply by the Centre and respective state governments, migrant workers were spotted boarding buses in large numbers blowing the idea of social distancing out of the window.

Several migrant workers including their kin have lost their lives in their efforts to reach home during the lockdown which has exempted essential services like grocery shops, pharmacies, banks, ATMs and media.

In another heart-breaking incident, an 11-year old boy in Bihar's Bhojpur area reportedly died out of hunger due to the strict enforcement of the lockdown. 

In major cities too, the idea of social distancing went for a toss as long queues with huge number of people were a familiar picture outside the grocery shops though the governments have repeatedly said no to hoarding.