No Plan To Extend 21-Day Lockdown: Cabinet Secretary

By FnF Correspondent | PUBLISHED: 30, Mar 2020, 19:13 pm IST | UPDATED: 30, Mar 2020, 19:13 pm IST

Delhi: The government on Monday said there was no plan to extend the 21-day lockdown which came into force on Tuesday midnight, beyond April 14. The Union Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba dismissed reports that the countrywide COVID-19 lockdown may get extended.

"There are rumours & media reports, claiming that the Government will extend the lockdown when it expires. The Cabinet Secretary has denied these reports, and stated that they are baseless," the Press Information Bureau said.

"I am surprised to see such reports, there is no such plan of extending the lockdown," said Gauba, while talking to news agency ANI.

The 21-day lockdown is aimed at checking the spread of the coronavirus.

Following the lockdown, there has been a massive exodus of migrant workers from big cities to their villages after being rendered jobless.

Prime Minister Modi had announced a three-week nationwide lockdown, which came into effect on March 25, to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Prime Minister later apologised for the difficulties that the poor, especially migrant workers, have been facing due to the lockdown which was announced 4-hours before it came into effect.