"Balanced strategy" needed for path ahead: PM Modi to chief ministers

India will have to devise and implement a "balanced strategy" to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, and the biggest challenge for the country will be to ensure that the infection does not spread to villages, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told chief ministers on Monday during a video conference.

Appreciating the role played by the states in the fight against the pandemic, Modi said the entire world is of the view that India has been able to successfully protect itself from the pandemic, according to official sources.

The prime minister conveyed to the chief ministers that a "balanced strategy will have to be adopted for the road ahead, and what path and the direction the country" should adopt could be determined on the basis of the suggestions by the states, sources said.

The "problems" have increased wherever the social distancing norms were not followed or there has been laxity in implementation of the lockdown guidelines, Modi told the chief ministers.

It was essential to make best efforts to ensure that people stay where they were during the lockdown, the prime minister said. However, in times like these people wish to go home and therefore, a change in decision had to be made, he added.

Modi said the biggest challenge would be to ensure that the disease does not spread to villages across the country after relaxations provided by the government.