Telangana to extend lockdown? Cabinet to take call today

New Delhi: As COVID-19 cases decline, the Telangana government on Saturday (June 19) will take a call on extending the lockdown. 

The Telangana cabinet will take a key decision on several issues ranging from lockdown to agriculture during the emergency meeting. 

"An emergency State Cabinet meeting will be held here at Pragati Bhavan on Saturday at 2 pm under the chairmanship of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao," a state government`s release said. 

It added that the cabinet is expected to discuss “lockdown in the state, rainfall, cultivation in the Monsoon season, agriculture-related seasonal issues, lifting of Godavari waters, Hydel power generation and other issues would be discussed,” ANI reported. 

The present lockdown is ending today and hence, the decision is expected soon. 

Under current lockdown relaxations, people can move between 6 AM to 5 PM with a grace period of one hour (up to 6 PM). On June 8, the Cabinet had extended the lockdown for 10 days. 

Meanwhile, in view of the prevailing coronavirus pandemic, the state government scrapped Class 12 board exam for the academic year 2020-21. The KCR government asked the authorities to submit the evaluation criteria for Class 12 evaluation to the government for approval, the official notice read. 

Telangana reported 1,417 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, taking the caseload to 6,10,834. With 12 more fatalities in the last 24 hours, the death toll rose to 3,546. 

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) reported the most number of cases with 149, followed by Rangareddy (104) and Khammam (93) districts, a state government bulletin said. 

(With agency inputs)