Hemant Soren to spell out Jharkhand-specific lockdown guidelines today

RANCHI: Chief minister Hemant Soren is expected to announce Jharkhand-specific guidelines for Lockdown 4.0 only on Monday, officials in chief minister’s office said on Sunday. CM’s press adviser Abhishek Pintu said, “The chief minister will hold a meeting with all key departments and the Covid-19 task force on Monday morning to make a state-specific announcement. But by and large, the state government continues to be on same page with the Centre on the issue of lockdown.”
Pintu’s statement came soon after the Union government announced extension of the ongoing lockdown with a host of relaxations on Sunday.
The state disaster management department has already submitted its recommendations to government in this regard and is awaiting the CM’s nod. “We will broadly go with the national advisories. But since classification of red, green and orange zones lies with the state, we are evaluating the situation afresh to fine tune certain norms. Expect a detailed state-specific advisory by Monday,” an official of the department said.
State finance minister Rameshwar Oraon also said since the outbreak of the pandemic, the Jharkhand government has supported the Centre’s decisions on the lockdown. “Even in the last video-conferencing of CMs with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, our chief minister Hemant Soren clearly said the state will be with the Centre on any decision regarding the lockdown.”
Notably, despite central advisory for reopening of standalone shops during Lockdown 3.0, the state government preferred to continue with the curbs, citing the return of migrants. Oraon, however, indicated that the state government may offer a host of relaxations in Lockdown 4.0 in order to reboot the economy and the livelihood of the state’s residents.
So far, around 60,000 migrants out of over six lakh stranded in different states have returned to Jharkhand through 50 special trains. The state is also seeing a spike in Covid-19 cases with the tally climbing to 223 and 17 out of the 24 total districts in currently have active cases.
Oraon said the government is working on a balancing plan to contain the virus and prevent hunger as well. He said, “It is high time that we also take care of people who are suffering by rebooting economic activities in areas that aren’t risky and safe zones, but of course, with lots of precautions. We are considering the avenues which can be reopened to help people earn their livelihood and generate revenue for the state. The CM will soon announce at an appropriate time.”