Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said that the government received over 5 lakh suggestions from people regarding lockdown relaxations in Delhi post May 17 and thanked them for the same.

Based on these suggestions, Kejriwal said, the state government will send a proposal to the Central government after a meeting at 4 pm today between the State Disaster Management Authority and Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal.

The chief minister, at briefing, informed that most people have suggested that schools and educational institutes should stay closed till summer vacations.

Majority of the residents of Delhi have also suggested that hotels should stay closed, but should be opened for take-away and home delivery.

There is almost a consensus that barber shops, spas, saloons, cinema halls, and swimming pools should not open yet, Kejriwal said.

A lot of suggestions have been received from many market associations, most of whom have called for opening of markets and market complexes. They have suggested that the shops can be opened on an odd-even basis – half shops one day and the other half the next day.

“Some people asked if we can start public buses. They said many offices are allowed to work now, but not everyone has a vehicle and they need public transport. How are they going to reach their office? Some said Delhi Metro must run in a very limited way. What defines this limit, we will look into that,” the CM added.

Most people have also suggested strict action against those not wearing masks and violating social-distancing norms.

On Tuesday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had sought suggestions from people and experts on lockdown relaxations post May 17, even as the national capital continued to witness a spike in Coronavirus cases.

On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a meeting with the ministers, had hinted at an extension of the nationwide lockdown for the third time beyond May 17, but with more relaxations.

PM Modi also asked the chief ministers to share by May 15 a broad strategy on how they want to deal with lockdown regime in their states.

Speaking on his part, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal suggested that all economic activities should be allowed in the national capital except in containment zones.

The Delhi CM also called for lifting more curbs in Delhi, all of which has been designated a Red Zone.

The Delhi government is in favour of allowing all offices, industries, markets and e-commerce with precautions like physical distancing, masks and face-shields, limiting the number of people, as reported by NDTV.

Last week during an online press conference, the Delhi CM had said that the national capital is in favour of lifting the lockdown and the citizens need to learn to live with the coronavirus.

However, his remarks were not validated by the Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan who later said that Delhi should allow “only minimum relaxations”.

He had asserted that stringent measures are required to tackle the highly contagious Coronavirus in Delhi.

The health minister had also blamed people in metros like Delhi and Mumbai for not following the lockdown guidelines properly. He said that not following lockdown measures is one of the main reasons these cities are not performing well in controlling the spread of Coronavirus as compared to other cities in the country.

Delhi is among the worst-hit states. Delhi has seen a spike of 472 cases of coronavirus in a day taking its tally to 8,470. 115 COVID-19 patients have succumbed to the infection.