During the video conference with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with other Chief Ministers of the country, Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh favoured extending the lockdown further, while planning the exit strategy also. The Chief Minister is right as the time has not come as yet to lift the lockdown as number of cases has been increasing day by day. For last two days consecutively there were more than 4200 new cases each. The rate of increase has by and large been around 5 percent and at current rate the number of patients is likely to double in 14 days. This is certainly not the right prospect and the right time to open the lockdown. It is a fact that the country is paying a heavy economic price for the prolonged lockdown. While there is every possibility of bringing back the economy on tracks, there is no possibility of bringing back dead people to life. It is important that lives are saved and no price is too heavy to be paid for that. Indian economy may have got the hit, but that does not take away the rich and abundant resources the country has with which it can manage the extended lockdown. In fact the granaries of Punjab alone can feed the entire country for months together, if not years. There needs to be a proper and coordinated effort. People really do not need to come on roads for food. The real test of the administration and the leaders lies ahead. Every political leader of some worth has a good network spread all over their areas of influence. They have been doing it and they can be involved in it in a more methodical and organised way till the lockdown is in force. Critics and doomsayers’ cynicism notwithstanding, India has indeed done very well. The curve may not have flattened, but the spread has definitely been contained. The recovery rate of the positive patients has also touched 30 percent, which is a very positive indication. This momentum needs to be maintained and improved further. It can only be done by extending the lockdown further and also to ensure that the gains made during the last seven weeks are not squandered away. A few weeks of extra lockdown will not do any harm, but will certainly help in controlling the situation. We have already come this far, will need to go little further and we can go ahead together.