New Delhi: ‘Lockdown 4.0’ was the main topic of discussion on prime time debates Sunday. TV anchors talked about the fact that states have been given larger autonomy to make their own policies for this lockdown.
Aaj Tak’s Chitra Tripathi was worried about Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s demands — “Jo UP ke CM ne maange rakhi thi PM ke saamne kya woh poori hui hai Lockdown 4 ko dhyan mein rakhte huye,” (Have the demands of UP CM been met with?)
Correspondent Kumar Abhishek replied, “Sabse badi baat thi ki intra-state gaadiyon ki movement ke liye, woh lagta hai ki baat rakhi hai,” (The biggest concern was whether intra-state commuting will be allowed and it has been).
Abhishek added, “Agar aap migrant workers dekhe toh UP se jaane walon ke numbers zyaada hai. Bus ke raaste khule jaa rahe hai toh iska faayeda Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand ko bhi milega,” (If you look at migration workers then there are many in UP. If the buses are allowed to travel then Bihar, West Bengal and Jharkhand will also benefit).
India TV’s Sourav Sharma had a bullet point system to make things clearer — “Mall, spa, pub? Band.” (Mall, spa, pub? Closed).
“Metro rail, school, college, hotel? Band…Political rally, dharmic sansthaan? Band. Nahi chalega” (Metro rail, school, college, hotel? Closed…Political rally, religious places? Closed. Won’t work), he explained.
Meanwhile, News18 India anchorAmish Devgan was preoccupied with Congress’ suggestion that gold in temples should be monetised to help India’s economy, “Sona zyaada tar mandiron ke paas hi hai aur BJP keh rahi hai ki Congress ki soch mandiron ke khilaaf rahi hai,” (Temple usually has gold and BJP claims that Congress’ thought process has been against temple).
Devgan tried to ask the question BJP was asking, “BJP ne sawal poocha hai ki kya Prithvi Raj Chauhan ne Sonia Gandhi ke kehne par kahan hai, kya yeh baat Congress ki official baat hai,” (BJP has asked whether Prithvi Raj Chauhan only asked this question on Sonia Gandhi’s suggestion, is this Congress’ official stance). Who even knows.
Republic’s Arnab Goswami honed his alliteration skills — “First off, congratulations on showing restraint, resilience and responsibility needed to get through 54 days of lockdown.”
Goswami continued, “We have come a long long way in our Covid fight. We have 53,946 active cases as of today and a remarkable recovery rate of 37.5 per cent.”
Of course, the ‘cynics’ were around the corner, “Forget those cynics, who are telling you lockdown has failed. It hasn’t failed, it has been fairly successful.” Goswami, as usual, didn’t bother explaining why.
On NDTV, as part of a telethon called ‘Together with Children’, anchor Prannoy Roy talked to ‘Prime Time’ anchor Ravish Kumar who Roy said had reported on children a lot.
Kumar raised some pertinent questions, “Nobody is focusing on children at this point. Children at all levels, from all villages have been displaced. Children of labourers have been most affected — living on biscuits for 20 hours and more.”
He added, “In the villages, no money means cutting down on the child’s essentials and food items they like. The government gives grains and pulses, but what about the children? We need to think about these children. They are going through immense mental trauma, emotional trauma and malnutrition.”
Times Now’s Madhavdas G. began with a good ol’ boast, “Times Now was the first to access Centre’s new guidelines on Lockdown 4.0.”
He gave his two cents on the issue, “This is the first time that state governments have been empowered not just to decide on what are the red, green orange zones but also to moderate among themselves as far as travel arrangements are concerned.”