On a hot day, migrants waiting for screening and registration at ISBT Sector 43 before leaving Chandigarh Railway Station for their onward journey to Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday. (Express photo: Kamleshwar Singh)
Lockdown 4.0 Guidelines & Rules, Coronavirus India Lockdown Extension Highlights: The Centre on Sunday extended the Covid-19 lockdown for two more weeks till May 31 with relaxations that are likely to completely open the economy with the operation of all markets, offices, industries and business along with plying of buses in all zones, barring containment.
Domestic and international flights and metro rail will remain out of bounds for the general public even as shopping malls, cinema halls, schools, colleges, hotels and restaurants, and religious and political gatherings will continue to remain prohibited. Crucially, the government has allowed inter-state movement of buses and private vehicles with the consent of the involved states. The move will greatly ease public transportation and is likely to come to immediate help of migrant labour on the roads. The night curfew, between 7 pm and 7 am, will continue in all zones.
Furthermore, states and Union Territories (UTs) have been given powers to delineate the Red, Green and Orange zones as per the Covid-19 situation and inter-state movement of passenger vehicles, buses have been allowed with mutual consent of states. District authorities have been directed to demarcate ‘containment’ and ‘buffer’ areas within Red and Orange zones as per Union Health Ministry guidelines.
The nationwide lockdown was first imposed for 21 days starting March 25 and then extended on April 15 and later on May 4 with an aim to stem the spread of novel coronavirus (Covid-19). As India entered the 54th day of the lockdown, the total number of coronavirus cases in India surpassed China’s tally with 90,927 infections and death toll soared to 2,872 on Sunday. China, which has a total of 84,649 cases, stopped adding new cases for the last two months now, while India has been detecting almost 4,000 cases every day for the last few days.
While some states have suggested to the Centre to extend the lockdown, most want to decide on zones and restrictions when the third phase of the lockdown ends. (Express File Photo Ganesh Shirsekar)
"Barber shops, spas and saloons to remain closed in Delhi for now," Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced. "Stepping out of homes between 7 pm to 7 am, except for essential services will be prohibited. Taxis and cabs will be allowed but only 2 passengers at a time in a car," he said.
The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is finalising its plan to restore services at the hospital from this week. The plan involves equally redistributing personnel from Covid-19 centres in all departments to reallocating beds for indoor patients. “The services are likely to start this week. Discussions on whether the services should be partially opened or in one go are going on with all the heads. Suggestions regarding limited registrations have also poured in. We are working on the plan,” said Dr DK Sharma, medical superintendent of the hospital.
On March 18, AIIMS sent an advisory to the OPD patients on their registered phone numbers, requesting them to postpone their appointments. From March 20, the hospital curtailed elective surgeries and a screening area was opened for patients having symptoms of respiratory tract infections. To ensure smooth treatment of Covid-19 patients, the Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Center (JPNATC) was converted into a dedicated Covid-19 hospital and the patients were shifted to the main campus. The hospital is now working on the redistribution of the beds for patients in the coming days. Read more
The Home Ministry Sunday gave its go-ahead to the re-opening of sports stadia without spectators. Does it clear the way for the 2020 IPL to be played behind closed doors?
What is the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) advisory on sports complexes?
On Sunday, the MHA issued guidelines for the fourth phase of the coronavirus-forced lockdown and mentioned that sports stadia would be allowed to open without spectators. “Sports complexes and stadia will be permitted to open; however, spectators will not be allowed,” the MHA advisory stated.
Does it pave the way for the IPL to start behind closed doors?
No. As long as there are restrictions on international and domestic travel, no plan can be made with regard to holding this year’s IPL. “See, the IPL at the moment is not possible because travel restrictions are still there. So how can you have the IPL without any travel happening? We are studying these guidelines and we will study state governments’ guidelines also. Accordingly we will plan,” BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal told The Indian Express. Read more
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is learnt to have tasked an informal group of ministers (GoM) to monitor the implementation of the economic revival package announced by him last week, sources revealed on Monday. The informal group chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh comprise of top ministers in the government, starting from Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Railways and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri, sources added.
The group, in fact, sources confide is likely to start working at the earliest since the Finance Minister has already announced all the elements of the package through last week. Sources, in this context, did not rule out the possibility of meetings from today itself. The constitution of the informal GoM holds significance keeping in mind the government has already liberalised restrictions across the country under the fourth phase of the nationwide lockdown that came into force today. Read more
Dear Readers,
On the face of it, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his address to the nation on May 12, the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan economic package is worth Rs 20 lakh crore, which is around 10% of India’s GDP in the 2019-20 financial year. Yet, many have openly questioned the ability of this economic package to either provide adequate immediate relief to the most distressed sections of the economy, or indeed stem the rapid decline in India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth.
Let me attempt to explain why that is happening and why this package is seen as inadequate. With a nationwide lockdown for the better part of April and May, the total quantum of economic activity in the country — measured by the monetary value of all goods and services produced — has sharply curtailed. Udit Misra explains more here
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday announced the fifth and final tranche of the Rs 20-lakh crore economic relief package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Here's a breakup of the relief package.
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has asked his officials to go all out to arrange for trains for migrants, and to “do the best you can” to make their journey home comfortable. Goyal became visibly emotional while talking about “the plight of migrants walking back home” during a meeting with Railways brass over video conference on Sunday, it is learnt.
This was in contrast to the instructions Goyal issued in a meeting on May 2, during which he asked officials to prioritise freight trains, run Shramik Specials only until May 17 and strictly at the request of state governments, and ensure that states paid for the migrants’ travel.
On Sunday, the minister asked Divisional Railway Managers (DRMs) to go ahead and take decisions based on the ground situation, including on operational and financial matters, without waiting for approval from the Railway Board. “You can take any decision in anticipation of post facto approval from the ministry or Railway Board, if required,” Goyal is learnt to have said. “Whatever decision you take, you presume it’s my decision and I’ll back it in total,” Goyal is learnt to have told the officers in the meeting. Read more
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Sunday announced a sharp 65 per cent hike over the Budget outlay for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in the fifth and final tranche of AtmaNirbhar Bharat package. The sharp hike is indicative of the likely surge in demand for work in rural areas as migrant workers, who are travelling to their home towns amid the coronavirus lockdown, are unlikely to return to the cities soon for work.
Alongside this, states have been allowed to raise their borrowing limit to 5 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) from 3 per cent, translating into additional borrowing headroom of Rs 4.28 lakh crore. While states had asked for greater fiscal headroom to tide over the crisis, the Centre has attached conditions for the increased borrowing space, which are emerging as dampeners. Read more
On May 12, Ramesh Kumar, a migrant worker from Siddharthnagar district in Uttar Pradesh, received the call he had been waiting for days — his application form to travel to Lucknow had been processed and that he would be on a train home the next day. Along with nine others, the 26-year-old reached the allocated meeting point, an open ground, at Saki Naka sharp at 7 am Wednesday.
Till 5 pm, the group waited patiently as officials called out application form numbers of migrants who would be allowed to board the train, scheduled to leave from CSMT. “Our numbers were not called out. We had been standing in the searing heat for the whole day with our luggage as we were assured that our forms have been processed, but were told to return home as the train was full. Several people, who had serial numbers after ours, however, were taken to the station to board the train,” Kumar, who works in a dye unit at Kajupada, said.
While doing rounds of the police chowki to find the status of his form earlier, Kumar claimed he had been approached by men who said they could facilitate his travel much faster for Rs 500 to Rs 1,000. Migrant workers stranded in other parts of the city, too, have claimed to have been approached by touts promising to process travel application forms quickly. Read more
As the third phase of the nationwide lockdown ended on Sunday, the Centre announced an extension till May 31, but listed considerable relaxations in non-containment zones that are set to further open up the economy. While all markets, offices, industries and businesses will be allowed to open, inter-state and intra-state movement of “passenger vehicles and buses” will be permitted with the consent of the states involved.
Significantly, in its guidelines for Phase IV of the lockdown beginning Monday, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said the “delineation of red, green and orange zones will be decided by the state and UT governments after taking into consideration the parameters shared by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.” Read more
As Lockdown 4.0 begins Monday, the Delhi government has got most of what it had asked of the Centre. A list of recommendations sent to the Prime Minister on Thursday had sought a considerable degree of opening up of the city so economic activity could restart. The Delhi government had, before that, asked people to send their suggestions about what they wanted in the fourth phase.
Most relaxations, however, are unlikely to come into force on Monday. With the Centre’s guidelines coming late Sunday evening, the Delhi government has decided to come out with its own set on Monday. Complete curbs will remain in all 64 containment zones in the city.
“Centre’s guidelines are largely in line with the proposal sent by Delhi government based on suggestions of lakhs of Delhiites. We have used the lockdown period to prepare our healthcare system if corona cases increase, but it is now time to relax the restrictions to some extent. Delhi government will prepare a detailed plan for the city based on the Centre’s guidelines and announce them tomorrow,” Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said. Read more
While the delineation of red, orange and green zones has now been left to the states and Union territories (UTs), the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Sunday laid down the broad “parameters” on which a “multi-factorial analysis” should be based.
These include: the total number of active cases, active cases per lakh population, doubling rate over a 7-day period, case fatality ratio, tests per lakh population, and sample positivity rate. For each of these parameters, a “critical” level and a “desirable” level have been defined.
Significantly, the states have now been allowed to designate specific areas, instead of the entire district, as red, orange or green zones. “States may categorise districts/ municipal corporations as red/ orange/ green zones. States may, however, also choose to categorise a sub-division/ ward or any other appropriate administrative unit as red/ orange/ green zone after detailed analysis at their end, duly taking into consideration the geographical spread of cases, contacts and their zone of influence in terms of disease spread,” Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan said in a letter to the states on Sunday. Read more
After steering the first three phases of the coronavirus lockdown, the government has decentralised the fourth step by asking states to take charge of the details while implementing its guidelines for the next fortnight. At the same time,
the guidelines assign greater ownership of the Covid-19 response to states.
This is a marked departure from mid-April, early in Lockdown 2.0, when the Union Home Ministry forced the Kerala government to modify its guidelines that were at slight variance with the central template. Subsequently, Kerala, which has been managing the outbreak better that many other states, had to roll back its relaxation for non-AC barber shops, bookshops, plying of buses, etc.
Even during Lockdown 3.0, from May 4, the Home Ministry had defined Red, Orange and Green zones for each state and specified the restrictions for different activities. The earlier relaxations in the guidelines, however, did not give space for much economic activity — a point that Chief Ministers flagged in their interaction with the Prime Minister last Monday. Unlike the previous phases, the guidelines for Lockdown 4.0 don’t get into the minute details of activities that were earlier laid down by the Home Ministry: allowing business (IT, medical, essential activities, etc), specifying the nature of vehicles and seating (pillion, front seat), arrangements for travel, and type of shops (essential, non-essential, barber/salon, e-commerce) allowed to open within markets. Read more
Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot Sunday said it would take months for migrants to reach home if they were dependent only on trains, and the government should arrange vehicles for them. ANI quoted him as saying: "Instead of criticising Rahul Gandhi, Centre should have held talks with Opposition on what help they need for arranging facilities for migrant workers. It'll take 6-8 months if migrants travel by train,we should arrange vehicles for them."
Earlier, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had called Rahul Gandhi meeting migrants 'a drama'.
The West Bengal government on Sunday said the central government order on extending the lockdown till May 31 will be followed strictly and no violations of the order would be tolerated. The ongoing status quo will continue. It will be followed very religiously till we come out with a further notification, a senior official said.
"We will come out with a notification on Monday afternoon," the official said on whether any plan was chalked out following the central government issuing guidelines of extending the ongoing lockdown till May 31. "Lockdown would continue, as it has been in place in the state, since the beginning. Any sort of violation would be dealth strictly," the official added.
A meeting of senior state government officials was held tonight to discuss the modalities of the order by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Union home ministry on Sunday issued a nine-page guidelines listing the dos and don'ts during the lockdown 4.0 that has been clamped in the country to cut the chain of coronavirus infection. PTI
Eleven migrant labourers going from Himachal Pradesh to Bihar were injured on Sunday after their bus was hit by a speeding truck in Uttar Pradesh's Kushinagar district, police said. Four of the injured are critical and have been referred to the district hospital from Fazilnagar community health centre, while seven were discharged after treatment and sent home in the same bus. The bus was carrying 25 migrants workers. According to eyewitness, the truck driver dozed off and lost control over the vehicle. He fled the spot after the accident, the police said. PTI
Minutes after the Centre issued guidelines on extending the nationwide lockdown till May 31, Karnataka CM B S Yediyurappa called for a meeting to discuss its contours for the state.
“Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has summoned for a meeting with ministers and senior officers to discuss about the guidelines issued by Government of India for lockdown 4.0 on May 18 at 11 am in Conference Hall, Vidhana Soudha. The steps to be taken and the guidelines to be issued for state will be discussed and finalised in this meeting,” a statement from the Karnataka CMO read. Read more here
The BCCI will co-ordinate with its state units to ensure that the players get to start skill-based training at local level after the government announced new regulations for the fourth phase of coronavirus-forced lockdown, treasurer Arun Dhumal said on Sunday. As per the MHA guidelines, the stadiums will be opened but no spectators will be allowed which indicates that the players can start their individual training although the camp which they were planning won't happen till travel restrictions are in place.
"The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has taken note of the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs on Sunday for containment of COVID-19 across the country," Dhumal said in a BCCI press release. "Taking into the account the restrictions on air travel and movement of people till May 31, the BCCI will wait further before organizing a skill-based training camp for its contracted players," he stated.
"In the meantime, the BCCI will study guidelines at the state level and will work in sync with State Cricket Associations to chalk out a programme for skill-based training at a local level," Dhumal said. "The BCCI Office-Bearers will continue their interactions with the team management and draw up a suitable plan for the entire team once the situation further improves." He said that the safety of players was paramount. PTI
The Rajasthan government will issue detailed guidelines for lockdown 4.0 on Monday. In a meeting with state officials, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot issued directions to arrange special buses for labourers who are walking on foot to their home. The bus services will be free for labourers and the chief minister has requested the Centre to approve the expenditure incurred on the arrangement under the state disaster relief fund. Gehlot also urged other state governments to run 'labourers special buses' to send Rajasthani migrants to their home. The chief minister instructed officials to form a separate team for monitoring of the coronavirus infection in the state so that further action plan could be prepared accordingly. Health Minister Raghu Sharma, Chief Secretary DB Gupta, ACS (Home) Rajeeva Swarup, DGP Bhupendra Singh and other senior officials were present at the meeting. PTI
Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan has detailed parameters states and UTs should keep in mind while categorising areas into red, orange or green zones -- active COVID-19 cases, cases per lakh population, doubling and fatality rates, among others