Coronavirus lockdown 3.0 is an exam India needs to pass: VP Naidu

New Delhi: With Lockdown 3.0 beginning from Monday after the end of 40-day lockdown on Sunday, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday said this window of two weeks will be the time frame for returning to total pre-Corona normalcy.

“The way all of us conduct during lockdown 3.0 will lay the ground for further course of action aimed at returning to total pre-Corona normalcy. This is a kind of preliminary examination and as a nation, we need to pass in it.

He said he has reasons to believe that “we would as we don’t have the option to fail. As I said earlier, it is upon us to decide the duration of this fight. Let's act with responsibility to make it as short as possible.”

Naidu said this decision puts the onus of taking forward the fight against the virus more in the hands of stakeholders including the people, state governments and concerned agencies, commercial and industrial establishments.

“So far, the central government has been at the forefront of formulating the battle strategy in consultation with the States with focus on the lives of the people. It has yielded positive results as widely acknowledged,” Naidu said.

The announcement of coronavirus induced lockdown 3.0 for two more weeks from May 4, with attendant relaxations driven by economic concerns, marks a landmark in the nation’s collective fight against the killer disease of COVID-19, Naidu said.

He argued that the modalities of lockdown 3.0 are a clear acknowledgement of the need to balance the twin concerns of lives and livelihoods by kick-starting the economy.

The pressing need to trigger a resumption of economic activities has been addressed in a manner that fits with the prevailing situation on the ground, Naidu said.

The green zones to a large extent and the orange zones to some degree should hopefully witness the start of much needed economic revival. This is where the people, state governments and other concerned stakeholders should put their best foot forward while seizing the opportunities.  

Insisting that people should not lower the guard in the ongoing efforts to contain the spread of the disease from now onward while taking the economy out of the freeze, the Vice President held that the remarkable behavioural changes brought in during the first two lockdowns shall be persisted with for a long time to come and till the virus is put to rest.