As the extended lockdown nears an end on May 3 and with the state witnessing a downward trend in the number of positive cases in the state, the Telangana government has decided to hold a crucial Cabinet meeting on May 5 to take stock of the situation.
The Cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao, will decide on whether to continue complete lockdown or allow certain activities in green zones.
This is the fourth cabinet meeting. In the previous Cabinet meet, the Telangana government extended the lockdown till May 7 without any relaxations although the Modi government extended the nation-wide lockdown by May 3. In its second Cabinet meeting on April 11, the government while extending the lockdown till April 30 sought economic stimulus measures from the central government, including relaxation of the fiscal limit under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act to five per cent 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,” the Chief Minister pointed out. Further, the Telangana government sought a moratorium on state loan repayments to be extended by at least to six months.
In the last one week, Telangana showed a steady decline in the number of coronavirus cases. The state has been reporting cases in single digit. On Thursday, the state reported 22 new cases, taking the tally to 1,038. The Inter-Ministerial Central Team that had visited the red zones and hotspots in Telangana lauded the efforts of the government in preventing and containing the spread of the virus in the state. Telangana has nine green, six red and 18 orange zones. With the number of cases slowing on the decline, the Telangana government may lift certain restrictions in green zones. However,the government is unlikely to lift restrictions and continue complete lockdown in Hyderabad since more than half of 1038 cases were reported in the city.
