Gujarat govt to follow Centre's guidelines on lockdown

The Gujarat government will follow the Centre's guidelines on the status of the lockdown after April 14 although some states have extended the period under curbs, officials said on Monday. Gujarat has not made any official announcement on its stand on the three-week-long lockdown, which ends on April 14.

States like Tamil Nadu, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Telangana and Karnataka have already extended the lockdown period. When asked about what would be the stand of the state government, officials said the state will follow the guidelines of the Centre.

"We have not issued any specific guidelines about the lockdown or giving any relief to specific sectors yet. Since the lockdown is ending tomorrow, we are expecting that the Centre will issue guidelines and we will follow them," said Ashwani Kumar, Secretary in the Chief Minister's Office.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Home Pradeepsinh Jadeja told reporters here that a formal decision will be announced soon.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi had talked with all the Chief Ministers about this through a video conference.

Majority of the CMs had recommended that the lockdown be extended," Jadeja said. He said the state government had submitted an action plan to the Union government, and that a formal announcement on lockdown will be made by the Centre. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be addressing the nation on Tuesday morning, when he is likely to speak about the lockdown.