The Tamil Nadu government, by introducing a liberalised e-pass system recently, is facilitating “free movement” of people within the State, a top official said on Saturday after Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla wrote to Chief Secretaries of States and Union Territories against restrictions on movement. However, he defended restrictions on inter-State movement.

Pointing out that the e-pass system is in force for the purpose of record, the official told The Hindu that there is “no restriction” but only “regulation” in force. Besides, there is “absolutely no problem” with regard to the movement of goods.

If the task of contact tracing has to be performed effectively, the e-pass system becomes imperative as this will provide the basis.

As long as there are “inter-regional variations” in the country in the spread of the disease, there exists the need for “restrictions” on inter-State movement of people, the official said.

Otherwise, the country may witness a “uniform peak” in the disease spread, which will “only cause much more stress” on health infrastructure than the current situation. Even now, several States are experiencing inter-district variations, they said.

The official added that contact tracing has to be “abandoned” if there is “no regulation or restriction” on the movement of people.