Lockdown 2.0: Read All About Revised Lockdown Guidelines Issued by the Govt!

In order to enforce the second phase of the coronavirus lockdown, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued fresh guidelines. During his address to the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi cited that there would be some relaxation in the non-hotspot areas after April 20.

As per the fresh guidelines, some economic activities have been listed out which will help ease the burden of daily wage labourers and industry. However, these economic activities are permitted only if the Standard Operating Procedure for social distancing is followed strictly.

Following is a list of activities NOT permitted till May 3: 

1. Air travel of passengers including- Domestic and international will be prohibited except for medical reasons and for security purposes. 
   
2. No passenger will be allowed to travel by trains, except for security purposes. 
   
3. Buses for public transport are strictly prohibited. 
   
4. Metro rail services are not permitted either. 
   
5. Except for medical reasons or for activities permitted under these guidelines, Inter-district and inter-State movement of individuals will not be permitted.
   
6.  All the institutions pertaining to educational, training and coaching shall remain closed.
   
7. Other than specifically permitted under these guidelines, all industrial and commercial activities will be prohibited. 
   
8. Hospitality services to remain non-operational other than those specifically permitted under these guidelines.
   
9. Taxis whether auto-rickshaws or cycle-rickshaws will be prohibited. The services of cab aggregators are not allowed either. 
   
10. Places of the likes of cinema halls, malls, shopping complexes, gymnasiums, sports complexes, swimming pools, entertainment parks, theatres, bars and auditoriums, assembly halls and others shall remain closed. 
    
11. Any kind of gathering be it- social/ political/ sports/ entertainment/ academic cultural/religious functions/ others will remain prohibited.  
    
12. All religious places/ places of worship shall be closed for public. 
    
13. Religious congregations are strictly prohibited. 
    
14. In the case of funerals, the congregation will be limited to no more than twenty persons. 

Following is a list of activities which are allowed after April 20^th:- 

1. All health services (including AYUSH) will be operational. 
   
2. Private authorised establishments, which help in the provisioning of essential services, or efforts for containment of COVID-19. 
   
3. Agricultural and horticultural activities to remain fully functional. For instance- MSP operations, ‘Mandis’ operated by APMCs those notified by the States.
   
4. Operations of the fishing (marine and inland)/ aquaculture industry.
   
5. Operations of tea, coffee and rubber plantations are allowed with a maximum of 50% workers.  
   
6. Processing, packaging, sale and marketing of tea, coffee, rubber and cashew are permitted with a maximum of 50% workers allowed.  
   
7. Collection, processing, distribution and sale of milk and milk products by milk processing plants, including transport and supply chain.
   
8.  Poultry farms & hatcheries and livestock farming activity. 
   
9. Animal feed manufacturing and feed plants, including the supply of raw material
   
10.  Operation of animal shelter homes, including Gaushalas to be functional. 
    
11. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and RBI regulated financial markets and entities to be operational.  
    
12. Bank branches and ATMs, IT vendors for banking operations. 
     
13. Bank branches to be allowed to work as per normal working hours till disbursal of DBT cash transfers is complete.
    
14. SEBI
    
15. IRDAI and Insurance companies.
    
16. Operation of homes for children/ disabled/ mentally challenged/ senior citizens/ destitutes/ women/ widows. 
    
17. Observation homes, aftercare homes and places of safety for juveniles
    
18. Disbursement of social security pensions, pension and provident fund services provided by EPFO 
    
19. Anganwadis for the distribution of food items and nutrition once in 15 days at the doorsteps of beneficiaries. Beneficiaries will not attend the Anganwadis. 
    
20. Online teaching/ distance learning to be encouraged. 
    
21. MNREGA works are allowed with strict implementation of social distancing and face mask. Priority to be given under MNREGA to irrigation and water conservation works. 
    
22. Other Central and State sector schemes in irrigation and water conservation sectors may also be allowed to be implemented. 
    
23. Operations of Oil and Gas sector Generation, transmission and distribution of power at Central and State/ UT levels.
    
24. Postal services, including post offices. Operations of utilities in water, sanitation and waste management sectors, at municipal/local body levels in States and UTS. 
    
25. Operation of utilities providing telecommunications and internet services.

Let us help the government flatten the COVID-19 curve so that we can come back to our normal life safe and sound, sooner.