Ambiguous MHA order spurs opening of non-essential shops

Newton Sequeira | TNN | Updated: Apr 26, 2020, 15:50 IST

While a handful of them, including a salon, opened for operations, most chose to wait for guidance from the state government and local urban bodies.

While a handful of them, including a salon, opened for operations, most chose to wait for guidance from the s...Read More

PANAJI: Non-essential shops continued to keep their shutters down on Saturday as confusion over the Union ministry of home affair’s (MHA) new relaxations kept shop keepers guessing. While a handful of them, including a salon, opened for operations, most chose to wait for guidance from the state government and local urban bodies.
In Panaji, a few hardware and electrical supply stores operated with partially open shutters, keeping a watchful eye for the arrival of police or Corporation of the City of Panaji staff.
Most standalone stores and shops registered under the Shops and Establishments Act remained closed, while some smartphone retailers changed their business overnight and began selling groceries.
“The central government issued guidelines late last night and since then we have been getting a lot of calls to ask us if they can open. Some shops, including spas and barbers, have gone ahead and opened their stores without studying the guidelines. Now the Goa government has given clarity,” Panaji mayor Uday Madkaikar said.
The MHA order stated that “all shops, including neighbourhood shops and stand-alone shops, shops in residential complexes, within the limits of municipal corporations and municipalities, registered under the Shops and Establishment Act of the respective state and UT will be allowed to open during the lockdown”.
The ministry also said shops located in registered markets located outside the municipal corporations and municipalities can open after following the drill of social distancing and wearing of masks, but with 50% strength.
Many people interpreted it to include salons, two-wheeler mechanics, furniture stores and ventured out expecting shops to be open.
It was only later in the day that the Centre and the directorate of health services in Goa cleared the air.
“There is no clarity. We will wait till CCP or the state government extends the Centre’s guidelines to Goa,” said a proprietor who opened his store for a brief moment to provide goods to an acquaintance.
Given that grocery stores and shops selling essential goods have been allowed to function, a mobile store and a cafe have morphed into vegetable vendors.