Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have conveyed their mind on this issue when the MHA consulted them.
Hyderabad: A majority of cash-strapped states want no further extension of lockdown beyond 31 May or a diluted version of 5.0 which may come into play from 1 June. .
Both the Telugu speaking states—Telangana and Andhra Pradesh—have already conveyed their mind on this issue when the Ministry of Home Affairs consulted them this weekend. If Union Home Minister Amit Shah called up Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba called Telangana’s senior officials on Thursday to find out the latest situation.
Shah’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on Friday evening assumes significance in view of inputs gathered from various states on the next course of action to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic. According to sources close to Union Minister of State for Home G. Kishan Reddy, there will be another round of lockdown, 5.0, but it will be much diluted compared to version 4.0.
“The major reason for the Centre going for a balancing act—while continuing lockdown in some states where the positive cases are growing fast, other states will be allowed to go ahead with opening of shops and services—is that it is in tune with the opinion gathered from states,” said an official from the MHA.
The Centre will also try to bring uniformity in restrictions among different states from 1 June.
Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) and his Andhra Pradesh counterpart Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy are understood to have conveyed their mind to the Centre on easing restrictions to the maximum extent so that the economy can be brought back on track. The two states have gone bankrupt to the extent that they are not in a position to pay salaries to government employees on 1 June.
KCR has extended salary cuts to all 4.5 lakh government staff by 50%, IAS and IPS officers 60% and to the Chief Minister and ministers 75% for May salary too. Adjacent Andhra Pradesh has decided to pay full salaries for May on Monday, but its coffers are empty as of now. Chief Minister Jagan has asked his officers to pool funds from different accounts for paying salaries. Telangana’s average total revenues are Rs 13,000 crore per month, but in May, it may get only around Rs 3,300 crore.
The salary bill of employees alone accounts for Rs 2,500 crore. Close to Rs 3,00 crore is needed for social welfare measures like old-age pensions etc and the staff of departments like medical and health, police and power are paid full salary.
In Andhra Pradesh, average monthly income is around Rs 15,000 crore, but this May, it will not go beyond Rs 4,000 crore. Still, Chief Minister Jagan has decided to keep the government employees in good humour by paying them full in view of his government’s first anniversary. Sources say Andhra Pradesh got around Rs 850 crore from the Centre through taxes devolution.
Revenues through sale of liquor, stamps and registration and commercial taxes (though petrol), too, are poor in these states. Though shops and establishments and services sectors have been opened up since 18 May, the revenues are not impressive as the market response is tepid. “Opening of shops from 11 am to 7 pm will not yield us much,” said a representative of CII’s Hyderabad chapter.
Petrol sales came to 15% in April compared to the average pre-Covid figures and they went up to 45% in May in Hyderabad with a population of around 1.10 crore. Same is the case with GST collections which remained around 30% of the average in May. These figures are slowly picking up, but drastic dilution of lockdown is the only solution to revive the revenues, say the officials. Telangana wants to open up all shops, restaurants, shopping complexes and services from 1 June, while Andhra Pradesh wants to restore normalcy for all sectors from next week. Both the states want to curtail restrictions to the confinement zones where Covid patients are housed. As the quarantine zones have been limited to the houses or apartments of the patients, the remaining areas can be set free.
The cases are rising in both the states—Telangana accounting for 2,425 positive cases and 71 deaths and Andhra Pradesh 3,330 positive cases and 60 deaths—by this weekend. The surge in cases is mainly due to those who arrived through Shramik Rails and Vande Bharat flights in the last two weeks. Still, Chief Minister KCR said that there was no need to be panicky and tighten the lockdown.