Lockdown extended till May 31 with relaxations

Barber shops, salons and spas can function, and e-commerce firms can deliver nonessential items in non-containment zones

The Centre has extended the lockdown till May 31 with several relaxations in non-containment zones and allowed states to decide the colour code that reflects the intensity of the Covid-19 spread in a particular area.

Some of the key changes in Lockdown 4, compared with the previous phase that ended on Sunday:

⦾ Shops of all categories, except those in malls and in containment zones, can open with staggered timings. Barber shops, salons and spas can function and e-commerce firms can deliver nonessential items in non-containment zones, PTI added. The states will have the final say on the shops that can open.

Representatives of malls have requested the government to allow them to reopen, describing the continuing bar as unfortunate and pointing out that such centres are equipped to follow social distancing and public hygiene norms under professional supervision.

⦾ Intra- and inter-state movement (with mutual consent of the states) of passenger vehicles and buses.

⦾ Hotels and restaurants cannot reopen but can operate kitchens for home delivery and takeaway services.

⦾ Sports complexes and stadiums will be permitted to open for sporting events but without spectators. (Asked whether the IPL would be allowed, the Union home ministry spokesperson refused comment).

Night curfew will remain in force between 7pm and 7am on the movement of individuals for all non-essential activities.

The states can decide on the delineation of red, orange and green zones in line with the Union health ministry’s guidelines. District administrations and local urban bodies will identify the containment and buffer zones within the red and orange zones with the help of local technical inputs and the Union ministry’s guidelines.

All domestic and international flights and Metro train services will remain prohibited. Air ambulance and flights for security purposes will be allowed.

Schools, colleges, educational training institutions, hotels, gyms, swimming pools and cinemas will remain closed. No social, political or religious functions will be allowed, and places of worship will remain shut till May 31, the home ministry said.

The practice of working from home should be followed to the extent possible and staggering of work hours should be adopted by all offices and establishments. There should be thermal scanning and use of hand sanitisers at all entry and exit points and common areas, the guidelines said.

Via : Telegraph

How Can We Stop This if They Sleep on Tracks, SC Says on Migrants Killed in Aurangabad, Rejects Shelter Plea

In pic : Migrant workers from other states desperate to return to their homes walk through rail tracks towards a train station in Ahmedabad on May 11, 2020. (Photo: AP)

The court made the observation as it refused to direct the government to give migrant workers shelter or free transportation.

The Supreme Court on Friday said it was impossible for anyone to stop migrant workers from walking back to their homes and refused to direct the government to give them shelter or free transportation.

“How do you stop people who want to keep walking? Can anyone go and stop them? Impossible for anyone to stop them,” a bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao, Sanjay Kaul and BR Gavai said.

The court refused to entertain the plea after the Centre informed that arrangements have been made for the migrants to return home, “but some don't want to wait and start walking on foot.”

“Migrants must have patience to wait for their turn,” Solicitor General Tushar Meha told the bench.

Mehta said authorities can only request these people not to start walking on foot as using any force to stop them would be counter-productive.

The petitioner, lawyer Alakh Alok Srivastava, also highlighted the issue of 16 migrant workers getting killed after being run over by a train in Aurangabad last week, to which the court responded: “How can anyone stop this when they sleep on railway tracks?”

The workers crushed to death by a freight train last Friday had been walking along the rail tracks for around 45km and slept there due to exhaustion, officials had said.

The bench, which said it was not inclined to hear the plea, observed that it is impossible for the court to monitor who is walking and who is not walking.

It also berated the advocate, saying his petition was "totally based" on newspaper clippings. "Every advocate read incidents in the paper and become knowledgeable about every subject. Your knowledge is totally based on newspaper clippings and then you want this court to decide. Let the state decide. Why should this court decide or hear? We will give you special pass. Can you go and implement government orders?" the court said, dismissing the petition.

The petitioner had wanted the court to pass directions to all district magistrate to identify those stranded and ensure shelter, food and free transport for them.

Dozens of migrant workers have fallen sick or died on their way home, either from fatigue or in accidents, underscoring the extreme risks the poor have been exposed to under measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Migrant labourers have been walking back to their rural homes since the lockdown was announced in March as their income dried up overnight. The Centre, criticised for ignoring their plight, started running special Shramik trains earlier this month to ferry them home. The Railways says over a million have been sent back so far.

But activists, which helps such migrant labourers, said many were still trying to get home on foot because registering for the transport was too difficult.

Source : News18.com