Consolidated Revised Guidelines Issued by Ministry of Home Affairs on Lockdown
April 17, 2020 |
Latest Update, News
Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has on 15th day of April, 2020 issued consolidated revised guidelines on Lockdown. The Key highlights of the order is as under:
1. Prohibited Activities during the extended period of lockdown i.e. till 3rd day of May 2020:
All domestic and international passenger air travel (except for security purposes or movement both inter and intra state including air of al medical & veterinary personnel, scientists, nurses, para-medical staff, lab technicians, mid-wives& other hospital support services, including ambulances) , rail travel, except for security purposes, bus travel and metro travel;
Interdistrict and inter-states movement of individuals except for medical reasons or for activities permitted under these guidelines;
All educational, training, coaching institutions, etc., industrial and commercial activities and Hospitality Services to remain closed;
Taxis, auto, and cycle rikshaws and can aggregators;
All cinema halls, malls, bars, shopping complexes, parks etc.;
All social/political/sports/entertainment/academic/cultural/ religious functions, etc.;
In case of funerals, maximum gathering of 20 persons are allowed.
2. Hotspots and Containment Zones
Hotspots i.e. areas with large COVID-19 spread, will be determined as per the guidelines of Ministry of Health and family Welfare (MOHFW). The States/UTs/District administrators will demarcate containment zones in these Hotspots.
The activities otherwise allowed under these guidelines would not be allowed in these containment zones.
3. Activities permitted with effect from 20th day of April, 2020
To mitigate hardship to the public, certain additional activities have been allowed, which would be operationalized by the States/UTs/District administrators. Pre-conditions for permitting these additional activities would include preparations concerning standard operating procedures in offices, workplaces, factories and establishments. These select additional activities are enumerated in below paragraphs.
4. All health services (including AYUSH) such as Hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, telemedicine facilities, dispensaries, chemists, pharmacies, medical laboratories and collection centres, Veterinary hospitals, etc. to remain functional.5. Agricultural and related activities such as farming operations by farmers and farm workers, agencies engaged in procurement of agriculture products, including MSP operations, ‘Mandis’ operated by the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC),shops of agricultural machinery, ‘ Custom Hiring centres’ related to farm machinery, manufacturing, distribution and retail of fertilizers, etc., Fisheries such as fishing, Hatcheries, feed plants, commercial acquaria, movement of fish/shrimp and fish products, etc. and Plantations such as…tea, coffee, rubber with maximum of 50% workers and Animal Husbandry such as collection, processing, distribution and sale of milk and milk products by milk processing plants, etc., operation of poultry farms, hatcheries and livestock farming activity, would be functional.
6. Financial sector including Reserve Bank of India and its regulated financial markets and entities, payment system operators, standalone primary dealers, bank branches and ATMs; SEBI and other notified capital and debt markets, IRDAI and insurance companies, would be operational.
7. Social sector including operation of homes for children/disabled/mentally challenged/senior citizens/destitutes/ women/widows, places of safety for juvenils, disbursement of social security pensions, operation of Angadvadis, would be operational.
8. Online teaching/ distance learning to be encouraged with use of Doordarshan (DD) and other educational channels.
9. MNREGA with priority to irrigation and water conservation sectors may be allowed with strict implementation of face masks and social distancing.
10. Public utilities such as Oil and gas Sector, Power sector, postal services, water, sanitation, and waste management sectors, at municipal/ local body levels in States and UTs, telecommunication and internet services, would be functional.
11. Movement, loading/unloading of goods/ cargo (inter and intra State) via railways, airport and related activities, seaports and Inland Container Depots (ICDs), land ports for cross land border transportation of essential goods including petroleum products and medical supplies, Shops for truck repairs and dhabas on highways, would be functional.
12. All facilities in the Supply chain of essential goods through manufacturing, wholesale or retail through local stores, large brick and mortar stores or e-commerce companies to be operational on strict compliance of social distancing; shops (including kirana, and single shops selling essential goods), and carts including ration shops (under PDS), etc.
13. Commercial and private establishments such as Print and electronic media, IT and IT enabled services with upto 50% strength, Call centres for government activities, Government approved Common services centres, courier services, Cold Storage and warehousing services, Hotels, Private Security services, Establishments for quarantine facilities, Services provided by self employed persons, etc. will be allowed to operate.
14. Industries/industrial establishment (both government and private) such as Industries in rural sectors, Manufacturing and other industrial establishment with access control in special economic zones ans export oriented units industrial estates and industrial townships, Manufacturing units of essential goods such as drungs, pharmaceuticals , medical devices, Food Processing industries in rural areas, manufsacturing of IT hardware, Coal Production, mines and mineral production, manufacturing units of packaging material, Jute industries with staggered shifts and social distancing, Oil and gas exploration/ refinery, Bricks kilns in rural areas, will be allowed to operate.:
15. Construction activities including construction of roads and irrigation projects, building and all kinds of industrial projects, including MSMEs in rural areas, renewable energy projects, Continuation of works in construction projects, within the limits of municipal corporations and municipalities will be allowed to operate.
16. Movement of Persons in private vehicles is allowed only for emergency services, such as medical and veterinary care and for procuring essential commodities. While, in case of four wheelers, apart from the driver, only one more person is allowed who is required to sit at the back seat, in case of two wheelers, only driver is allowed. All personal travelling to the place of work and back is exempted categories, as per the instructions of the state/UT local authority.
17. Offices of the Government of India, its Autonomous/ subordinate offices such as Defence, Central Amend police forces, Health and family welfare, Disaster management and early warning agencies (IMD, INCOIS, SASE and National Centre of Seismology, CWC), National Informatics Centre (NIC), Food Corporation of India (FCI), NCC Nehru Yuva Kendras (NYKs) and custom will remain open.18. Offices of the state / Union Territory Governments, their Autonomous Bodies and local government such as Police, home guards, civil defense, fire and emergency services, officers of other government department with 33% attendance etc. will remain open.
19. All such persons who have been directed by health care personnel to remain under strict home/institutional quarantine, failing which they would be liable to legal action under section 188 of the Indian penal Code, 1860. Further, quarantined persons, who have arrived in India after 15th February 2020 would be released on being as negative after completion of their quarantine period.
Instructions for enforcement of above lockdown measures:1. All the district magistrates shall strictly enforce the National COVID-19 directives, as specified below. Penalties prescribed shall be levied and collected from all persons and entities violating these directives.
Key pointers of National COVID-19 directives:Public places:
Wearing of face masks is made compulsory in all public places;
All persons in charge of public places shall ensure social distancing;
No gathering of more than 5 persons at public places shall be allowed;
Gatherings at marriages and funeral shall remain regulated by the District Magistrate;
Spitting at public places shall be punishable with fine;
Ban on sale of liquor, gutka, tobacco, etc.
Work places:
All work places to have adequate arrangements for temperature screening and sanitizers;
Work places to have a gap of one hour between shifts to ensure social distancing;
Persons above 65 years of age and parents of below 5 years of age to work from home;
To encourage people to use Arogya Setu application;
Sanitization of work places between shifts;
Large meetings to be prohibited.
Manufacturing establishments:
Frequent cleaning of common surfaces and mandatory hand washing;
No overlap of shifts and staggered lunch wih social distancing in canteens;
Intensive communication and training on good hygiene practices.
2. All industrial and commercial establishments, work places, offices, etc, shall put in place arrangements for implementation of SOP as mentioned below, before starting their functioning:
Standard operating procedure
All areas in the premises to be disinfected completed;
Special transportation facilities to be provided for outside workers;
All vehicles and machinery entering the premises to be disinfected completely;
Mandatory thermal scanning of all persons entering and exiting the premises;
Medical insurance of workers made mandatory;
Provision of hand wash and sanitizers at all enty, exit points and common areas;
Work places to have a gap of one hour between shifts to ensure social distancing;
Large gatherings or meetings of 10 or more people to be discouraged;
Use of staircase to be encouraged;
Ban on gutka, tobacco, etc. and spitting should be strictly prohibited;
Ban on non-essential visitors at sites;
Hospitals and clinics in the nearby vicinity authorized for treatment of COVID-19 patients to be identified and list to be made available at all work places at all times.
3. Additional activities permitted in these guidelines, shall be implemented in a phased manner, after all arrangements are made for strict implementation of the guidelines. These will come into effect from 20th day of April, 2020.
Penal provisions
Any person violating these lockdown measures will be liable to be proceeded against as per the provisions of the Section 51 to 60 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, besides legal action under Section 188 of the Indian penal Code, 1860, and other legal provisions as applicable.
The complete text of the circular may be viewed at below link:
https://www.mha.gov.in/sites/default/files/MHA%20order%20dt%2015.04.2020%2C%20with%20Revised%20Consolidated%20Guidelines_compressed%20%283%29.pdfLast Updated: 17th April 2020
This article is contributed by: Luv Malhotra
Senior Manager, Legal
Tag: Covid 19, Lockdown, Ministry of Home Affairs
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