PANCHKULA: Wear a mask while at a public place and wear it right, or pay a fine. Police have resumed the penalty campaign after earning Rs 1.08 crore from 21,666 challans of this sort.
The officers in charge of all the police stations and police posts have orders to not spare any defaulter. The mask must cover the nose and the mouth. Police are using loudspeakers to make the citizens aware of the central home ministry’s Covid protocol.
Police said people had stopped keeping social distance and wearing masks but now it will cost them Rs 500 for each offence. If they decline to pay the fine, they can even be booked on the spot under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The cops first organised a public awareness campaign from March 1 to 15, and then between March 16 and April 5 issued 3,504 challans to those who did not have their masks on.
Municipal commissioner R K Singh reviewed the Covid situation recently and told his teams to focus on the safety of sanitation workers deployed for door-to-door garbage collection. The commissioner directed the officials to provide the sanitation workers PPE (personal protective equipment) kits to shield them from coronavirus.
On the issue of their safety, the commissioner also ordered to provide them with uniform and raincoats as well. The MC teams will start their own penalty campaign against those without masks.