Amid concerns over a possible third wave of COVID-19 in the country, the Manohar Lal Khattar Government in Haryana has decided to celebrate the country’s 75th Independence Day on a grand scale allowing the gatherings of upto 1000 people for various events.
The State Government on Monday also decided to discontinue the night curfew from 11 pm to 5 am with immediate effect till August 23.
In an order issued by Chief Secretary Vijai Vardhan, all Deputy Commissioners in the state have been directed to work out the modalities to celebrate the Independence Day on August 15 with grandeur, fervor and enthusiasm. All Administrative Secretaries and Director General of Police have also been directed to implement the instructions.
As per the protocol, the functions will be held across the state at district and sub divisional levels with Chief Minister Manohar Lal presiding over the state level function and Cabinet Ministers will be participating at district level functions. The ruling BJP MLAs will also participate at the district level celebrations.
The Independence Day celebrations last year had remained a low-key affair due to the first wave of COVID-19 while small gatherings were allowed during the Republic Day celebrations on January 26 this year. The Chief Secretary’s order stated, “In exercise of powers conferred under Disaster Management Act 2005…, I hereby order that gatherings of invitees/spectators at the district or sub divisional level Independence Day functions to be held on August 15, 2021 in the state shall not be more than 1000 persons subject to strict observance of social distancing, COVID-19 appropriate behavioral norms and wearing of masks.”
“The Ministry of Home Affairs has released instructions regarding Independence Day celebrations on August 15 and desired that the same may be organized at state, district and sub-divisional levels with grandeur, gaiety, fervor and enthusiasm,” the order stated.
The order has however advised that these functions be held preferably in stadiums, police lines or open spaces which have a seating capacity of more than 5000 persons so that adequate social distancing norms could be observed.
The MHA had on August 3 issued instructions to all the State Governments and Chief Secretaries regarding Independence Day celebrations at state level, district level, sub-divisional, panchayat headquarters, while stressing that large congregations in the ceremony be avoided in view of COVID-19 pandemic.
The instructions said, “All programmes for Independence Day celebrations should be organized in a way that large congregations of people are avoided and technology is used in a best possible manner for celebration befitting the occasion. The events organized could be web-cast in order to reach out to people at large, who are not able to participate. For the ‘At Home’ function at Raj Bhawan by the Governors, the matter has been left to the discretion of Governors.”
Notably, Haryana, its neighboring state of Punjab and their joint capital Chandigarh have been witnessing decline in COVID-19 while the cases are on the rise in another neighboring state –Himachal Pradesh, which reported over 300 positive cases on Monday. A day before, Haryana Government had announced to lift all timing restrictions on the opening of shops, restaurants, malls and other such establishments, even as it extended the COVID-19 lockdown by a fortnight till August 23.