Lockdown 4.0 till May 31, states freed to fix zones, 33% Cap On Office Staff Lifted

In the most significant easing of the national lockdown yet, the Centre gave states considerable leeway in reopening market places in addition to standalone shops, allowed intra-state and interstate passenger vehicle and bus travel and did away with the 33% staffing restriction for businesses to provide a fillip to the economy.

The easing of rules came even as the national lockdown was extended till May 31. The activities that remain specifically prohibited are domestic and international passenger flights, metro rail services, hotels and dine-in at restaurants, shopping malls, educational institutions, and large public gatherings, including religious congregations irrespective of zones. Apart from these activities, there are few bars on other services and businesses even as states are expected to continue to enforce social distancing norms.

Even while designating zones, states have been allowed to draw up lists of red, orange and green zones, though in keeping with detailed guidelines provided by the Centre. The Saturday order of the ministry of home affairs made it evident that several requests of the states seeking elbow room to organise economic activities have been accepted. Inter-state bus travel will need consent of concerned states, which is not a hurdle as many are ready to permit this. Apart from delegating powers to the states and UTs to demarcate zones, the guidelines also allow them to decide to what extent they want to regulate activities permitted by the MHA within their respective jurisdiction. States can toughen the rules but cannot dilute the guidelines.

India’s three-tier justice delivery system, groaning under the weight of files of three crore cases, is on the verge of a new dawn. Filing of cases will be done electronically and judges will adopt a judicious mix of hearing advocates either through video-conferencing or physically, reports Dhananjay Mahapatra. Referring to changes caused by Covid-19, CJI S A Bobde, while unveiling the e-filing module, said, “Eventually, it must settle down to a system which is a combination of the two, the new and old…”

Earlier, inter-state movement of persons was listed as a prohibited activity, except for medical reasons and for those permitted by the home ministry. Movement of persons for non-essential services will, however, continue to be barred between 7 pm and 7 am which will be treated like a night-time curfew.

Passenger train services no longer figure in the list of prohibited activities, and have already started on a limited scale. Inter-state and intra-state movement of buses and passenger vehicles is permitted across all zones, except containment areas. Taxi, auto rickshaws, cab aggregators and e-rickshaw services are no longer barred in red zones.

The 33% limit on attendance in private workplaces in red zones has been done away with, though the national directives on Covid-19 management require “work from home” to be followed as far as possible.

In a change of stance, employers have been asked to ensure that Aarogya Setu is installed by employees “on best effort basis” on their phones “for safety of offices and workplaces” instead of the previous wording that asked office heads to ensure the app is downloaded. Social distancing, wearing of face covers and frequent sanitisation will need to become a norm at workplaces.

By

Babita Sharma,

Editor, INBA