In an interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire, Naushad Forbes, said that the lockdown in Maharashtra “is an essential step” but added, “it should have happened earlier”. He said given the sharp increase in COVID-19 cases, the state government “had no choice”.

Speaking to The Wire about the fear that the number of migrant workers leaving Maharashtra could become a flood, Naushad said it was incumbent on Maharashtra’s big industrialists to send a direct message to workers through their contractors that they will be paid and they will be looked after and, therefore, they must not leave and return to their villages.