Maharashtra chief minister says Section 144 to be clamped down in the state from 8 pm on April 14
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will request Prime Minister Narendra Modi to let Indian Air Force planes to supply oxygen to the state even as a state-wide curfew will come into force from 8 pm April 14, 2021.
Thackeray made the announcement while addressing his state on social media April 13 at 8.30 pm. He also termed the situation in the state, overwhelmed by novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases as an ‘Emergency’.
Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure will be in place to enforce the curfew. Under it, the assembly of more than four persons is prohibited. The arrangement will be in place for 15 days. Essential services will be excluded from the curfew.
However, Thackeray refused to term the arrangement as a ‘lockdown’.
The chief minister noted that there was a shortage of medical oxygen and beds and the demand for Remdesivir had increased in Maharashtra.
Incidentally, Modi, who had interacted with the chief ministers of various states April 8, had said he would not ‘favour any one state’ as far as necessary supplies of medicines and other medical equipment were concerned.
Maharashtra will also provide three kilograms of wheat and two kg rice free for the next one month to every poor and needy person while the curfew is in place, Thackeray said.
Maharashtra recorded 60, 212 cases of COVID-19 April 13.
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I will not term this as a lockdown, Uddhav Thackeray said in his address April 13, 2021. .png)
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