Social distancing norms followed, workers stay on premises for safety
The phase of country’s ‘partial exit’ from coronavirus lockdown began on Monday as several States opened up some business activities with caution whereas Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Delhi, Odisha, Karnataka, Haryana and others decided to continue with the existing restriction.
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu joined Telangana and Punjab in not easing the lockdown restrictions till May 3. Telangana, Punjab and Delhi had on Sunday announced they would not give any relaxations from the lockdown.
In many industrial units in several parts of the country, workers are staying on the same premises on resumption of work as a measure of safety.
Mostly in rural areas, several activities, including construction and repairing of roads, labour work under the MGNREGA, were restarted with strict enforcement of “social distancing” and provision for labourers to stay back at the site.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said the State Government has allowed some industrial activity in the green and orange Covid-19 zones. He added that only those industries that can provide accommodation to their workers during the lockdown period will be given foodgrain supply and will be permitted for raw material from the State. He further said all districts will remain sealed and only essential services movement will be permitted.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said no leniency is to be given in areas that are categorised as coronavirus hotspots and containment zones.
“All District Magistrates should decide at the local-level after seeing the circumstances to give exemption in certain activities during the lockdown, and then inform the State Government in this regard,” a statement released by the UP Government read.
The Government has allowed opening up of specified undertakings, banks and other units in the 56 districts that have reported less than 10 coronavirus cases
Karnataka has allowed the construction activities for workers with the rider that they will have to stay at the sites.
The West Bengal Government has issued guidelines for medical workers saying that those working in hospitals, especially Government hospitals, will not go home after they finish their respective duties as they will stay in their work headquarters. The circular said that all necessary arrangements have already been made for providing suitable boarding and lodging facilities to frontline medical personnel in the vicinity of their work places.
Goa which did not report a single positive case also continued with strict regulation of lockdown guidelines, allowing only those activities which have also been certified by the Centre.
The Centre also formed six inter-ministerial teams to make assessment in West Bengal, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. The two teams each will visit West Bengal and Maharashtra and one each will visit Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan’s most affected Covid-19 spots immediately.
A peeved Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi questioning the appropriateness of unleashing a Central team on the State for inspecting the alleged “violation” and “dilution” of lock-down guidelines without keeping the Bengal Government in the loop. The letter was written within an hour of the Chief Minister asking the Prime Minister and Home Minister Amit Shah on the twitter to explain the Centre’s alleged arbitrary conduct defying all the federal norms. In the letter, Mamata has drawn attention of the Prime Minister to how the inter-ministerial Central team landed in Kolkata within minutes of her Government being informed about its coming to the State, sources said, adding how the Chief Minister has reminded the Prime Minister that the Central move is against all established traditions.
The Centre’s inter-ministerial teams will visit Kolkata, Howrah, Medinipur East, 24 Parganas North, Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Jalpaiguri in West Bengal. Already the Union Home Ministry has red-flagged gross lockdown norms violations in the Trinamool Congress-ruled State by opening up pan shops, flower shops and even allowing Islamic congregations and meat shops.
In Maharashtra, the teams will visit Mumbai and Pune, which are the most affected spots. In Madhya Pradesh, the Centre’s monitoring team will visit the most affect spot Indore and in Rajasthan, the team will visit Jaipur.
“IMCTs to focus on complaints of implementation of lockdown measures as per guidelines, supply of essential commodities, social distancing, preparedness of health infrastructure, safety of health professionals and conditions of the relief camps for labourers and the poor. It may be mentioned that if the incidents of violations are allowed to occur without any restraining measures in hotspot districts or emerging hotspots or even places where large outbreaks or clusters may be expected and pose a serious health hazard, both for the population of these districts and for that living in other areas of the country. After analysing the prevalence of such violations in major hotspot districts, it is clear to the Central Government that the situation is especially serious in the above mentioned areas and expertise of the Centre need to be used,” said the Centre’s statement explaining the functions of the inter-ministerial team.
The statement said that it was being emphasised that the IMCTs will focus their assessment on the compliance and implementation of lockdown measures as per guidelines issued under the Disaster Management Act 2005. They will also focus on issues like the supply of essential commodities, social distancing in movement of people outside their homes, preparedness of the health infrastructure, hospital facility and sample statistics in the district, safety of health professionals, availability of test kits, PPEs, masks and other safety equipment, and conditions of the relief camps for labour and poor people.