Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday referred to a “fourth” phase of the lockdown, but hinted at more relaxations to help revive economic activity.

The third phase of the lockdown ends on May 17.

“I am of the firm view that the measures needed in the first phase of lockdown were not needed during the 2nd phase and similarly the measures needed in the 3rd phase are not needed in the fourth,” a government release quoted him as saying during a videoconference with the chief ministers.

“Even as we look at the gradual withdrawal of the lockdown, we should constantly remember that till we... find a vaccine or a solution, the biggest weapon with us to the fight the virus is social distancing,” Modi added.

He, however, requested the chief ministers for suggestions on how the lockdown should be implemented.

“I request you all to share with me by 15th May a broad strategy on how each one of you would want to deal with the lockdown regime in your particular states,” he said at what was his fifth meeting with the chief ministers over the coronavirus crisis.

None of the chief ministers directly opposed a lockdown extension but most of those from Opposition-ruled states sought more freedom in handling the Covid-19 crisis and more cash from the Centre.

Uddhav Thackeray, chief minister of the worst-affected state of Maharashtra, said any decision on extending the lockdown should be made carefully, taking into account the feedback of experts that the infection may peak between May and July.

In a departure from the past meetings, all the chief ministers were allowed to speak.

Leading the demand for autonomy was Kerala’s Pinarayi Vijayan, who said the states needed the freedom to tweak the Centre’s lockdown guidelines, if necessary.

He said the states should be able to take their own decisions on the resumption of public transport and industrial and commercial activities — and even on the identification of the red, orange and green zones.

The Opposition chief ministers underlined that they knew more about the ground situation in their states than the Centre, and should therefore enjoy more leeway in tackling the crisis.

Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik, perceived as friendly towards the BJP, echoed them.

Chief minister Bhupesh Baghel of Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh said the states should have complete freedom in deciding how to revive economic activity.

Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh favoured an extension of the lockdown but sought more flexibility for the states in micro-managing the response to the outbreak. He demanded fiscal help for the states.

Several friendly chief ministers and even an ally like Bihar’s Nitish Kumar opposed the Modi government’s sudden decision to run passenger trains, sources said.

Nitish joined his counterparts from Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh in arguing that a resumption of passenger train services would cause a spike in Covid-19 cases.

Tamil Nadu chief minister K. Palaniswami said no train or air services to Chennai should be allowed till May 31 as the city was battling a surge in infections.

The Centre had on Sunday announced the resumption of 15 passenger trains from Delhi to various key cities from Tuesday. It also indicated an intention to restart air services after May 17.

Modi told Monday’s meeting that train services needed to resume to rev up economic activity, but added that only a limited number of trains would ply and only on select routes.

Vijayan recommended that domestic flights between states be resumed after assessing the ground situation in each. He insisted on strict testing at the airports, railway stations and bus stations, a note issued by his office said.

He also reiterated his demand for pre-boarding antibody tests on all NRIs being flown in from abroad, which the Centre had earlier ignored.