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Schools, colleges, shopping malls, and movie theaters will not be allowed to open anywhere in the country, but salons, hairdressers, and opticians may be permitted in the red zones, except for the Covid-19 containment areas.
There will be plenty of relaxation and flexibility in shutdown 4.0 with the full reopening of green zones, very limited boundary in orange zones, and tight restrictions only in red zone containment areas, an official aware of the deliberations in the central government.
However, final guidelines will be issued by the Interior Ministry only after following suggestions from state governments.
State governments and union territory administrations were asked to submit their recommendations by Friday.
According to officials, Punjab, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Assam and Telangana wanted the closure to continue, some of them wanted the powers to decide the zoning of the districts (green, orange and red) based on the COVID-19 situation.
This request from state governments can be accepted so that they can restrict or allow the movement of people or economic activities in a particular location depending on the situation on the ground, the official told PTI.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his speech to the nation on Monday, had said that the 4.0 blockade will have a “completely different shape”, with new rules.
“No state wants the complete withdrawal of the blockade, but everyone wants the gradual resumption of economic activities,” said the official.
Gradual and needs-based operations are likely to be allowed for national railways and airlines starting next week, but the full opening of the two sectors is unlikely to take place immediately.
Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka were among some states that were not in favor of the complete resumption of air and train services, at least until the end of May, the official said.
The railways have already started special trains to 15 destinations from Delhi and have been running several hundred ‘Shramik Special’ trains from different parts of the country to various locations to transport stranded migrant workers due to the blockade.
Air India is also involved in the evacuation of thousands of Indians stranded abroad during the closure of the “Vande Bharat Mission”.
Local trains, buses, and subway services can begin to operate with limited capacity in the non-containment areas of the red zones.
Cars and taxis are also expected to be allowed in red zones with restrictions on passenger numbers.
Most of these services will be allowed within districts in non-containment areas and state governments may be authorized to attend their reopening, another official said.
Powers to open markets in the orange and red zones can be given to state governments, which can follow the odd-numbered policy while allowing non-essential goods stores to open.
E-commerce platforms can be allowed to deliver non-essential items even in red zones, except for containment areas.
The sale of non-essential items by e-commerce companies has already been allowed in green and orange areas.
Maharashtra, which has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths from the virus, wants stringent closure measures in Mumbai, its suburbs and Pune, and a complete halt to interstate and inter-district transportation of any kind.
While Gujarat, with the second highest number of positive cases, wishes to resume economic activities in the main urban centers.
States that are in favor of opening economic activities include Delhi, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, the official said.
Kerala is believed to have suggested reopening restaurants and hotels to revive the tourism sector.
Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha, who have seen an increase in COVID-19 cases after the arrival of migrant workers, want to continue the closure with strict restrictions on the movement of people.
Lockdown was first announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 24 for 21 days in an attempt to combat the coronavirus pandemic. It was first extended until May 3 and again until May 17.
This story has been published from a cable agency source without modification to the text. Only the owner has been changed.
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