Pioneer Dehradun E paper 02 May20

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The Union Home Ministry
extended a diluted lock-
down for two more weeks
from May 4 by allowing a
series of relaxations and clas-
sifying the districts into three
categories — Red, Orange and
Green Zones — for this pur-
pose. Except in 130 Red zone
district, major shares of normal
activities will resume with dif-
ferent sets of restriction in 80
per cent of the country com-
prising 284 orange zones dis-
tricts and 319 green zones dis-
tricts.
Public movement will not
be allowed for non-essential
activities in all zones from 7 pm
to 7 am.
In green zones, all activities
are permitted except the limit-
ed number of activities which
are prohibited throughout the
country, irrespective of the
zone. However buses can oper-
ate with up to 50 per cent seat-
ing and depots can operate at
50 per cent capacity.
In Red Zones which are
high risk areas or containment
zones, private vehicles are per-
mitted with two persons and
driver for four wheelers. Two
wheelers can zip around with-
out a pillion rider. Liquor
shops, malls and barber shops
will remain shut in red zone.
However, liquor shops and pan
shops will be opened in green
zones with a caveat that not
more than five persons will be
present there at a time. Since
Delhi and all other metropol-
itan cities are Red zones, the
booze lovers will have to keep
waiting for further relaxation.
Red and Orange Zones are
known as Containment Zones,
where local administration is
asked to ensure the usage of
Aarogya Setu App by all,
including daily monitoring and
surveillance of Covid-19 situ-
ations on regular basis. Hotels,
Restaurants, Cinema Halls,
gyms, etc, are not allowed in
Containment Zones.
Private offices with 33 per
cent attendance will be per-
mitted to open in Red Zone.
?=BQ =4F34;78
After repeated flip-flops on
the issue of mode of trans-
port for millions of migrant
workers stranded across the
country in the lockdown, the
Centre on Friday allowed using
of trains for ferrying them to
their home States.
Addressing a Press confer-
ence, Joint Secretary in the
Ministry of Home Punya Salila
Srivastava said stranded people
such as migrant workers,
tourists, pilgrims and students
can now be transported using
trains. “States and the Railway
Board will make the necessary
arrangements for the same,” she
said.
Only a day ago, the Centre
said buses can be used to trans-
port these workers.
This was opposed by
several States which
demanded that special trains
should be introduced to
transport these migrant
workers, claiming that it
would be impossible to
arrange tens of thousands of
buses for this purpose.
Before that the Centre
repeatedly opposed the
demand to send them back
home, saying it would lead to
spread of coronavirus.
The Ministry of Railways
announced to six “Shramik
Special” trains — Lingampally
to Hatia, Nasik to Lucknow,
Aluva to Bhubaneswar, Nasik
to Bhopal, Jaipur to Patna and
Kota to Hatia to move migrant
workers, pilgrims, tourists, stu-
dents and other persons strand-
ed at different places from the
Labour Day (May 1).
According to Railways,
based on Home Ministry
guidelines and as per the
demands received from the
various State Governments,
Railways decided to run six
special Shramik Special trains
from Friday.
Many more such trains
will be required in the coming
days to transport these work-
ers. Even if one train could
accommodate 1,000 workers
after maintaining social dis-
tancing, Bihar itself would
require 20,000 such trips to
complete the movement of
workers.
0A270=09HC8Q =4F34;78
Make in India’ will protect
the frontline healthcare
warriors from Covid-19 with
the Government on Friday
emphasising that the Indian
firms will now take care of the
country’s need for most of the
vital medical components like
Personnel Protection
Equipment (PPE), N-95/N99
masks and ventilators.
Claiming that the country
can’t be dependent on import
of these items which are in high
demand globally due to the
Covid-19 outbreak, PD
Vaghela, Chairman of the
Empowered Group-3 of the
Central Government said these
medical equipment are being
manufactured in the country
itself to protect the healthcare
workers as well as the patients
from the deadly virus.
“Earlier, there was no
domestic manufacturing of
PPE in the country and almost
all of them were imported. We
now have 111 indigenous man-
ufacturers,” he said.
“Demand for PPE kits has
been projected at 2.01 crore in
India. We have placed orders
for 2.22 crore kits out of
which 1.42 crore kits are being
procured in the domestic mar-
ket. 1.87 lakh kits are being
produced daily in the coun-
try,” he said at a Press briefing
here.
Similarly, out of the total
2.49 crore N-95/ N-99 masks
and 2.01 crore PPE kits
ordered, 1.49 crore and 1.42
crore respectively will be pro-
cured from domestic manu-
facturers. The Defence
Research Development
Organisation (DRDO) has
developed 3 types of new PU
coated nylon/polyester and
technology transfer to manu-
facturers of India.
The Union Health
Ministry has indicated a pro-
jected demand of 75,000 ven-
tilators till June, 2020.
?=BQ :;:0C0
Afresh war of words erupt-
ed between the BJP and the
TMC on Friday over the num-
ber of Covid-19 “red” zones in
West Bengal, with the ruling
dispensation insisting that the
State has just four hotspot dis-
tricts and not 10, as listed by
the Union Health Ministry.
Bengal Health Principal
Secretary Bibek Kumar the
Union Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare on Friday,
described the list as “an erro-
neous assessment” and said
Bengal, keeping in view the
parameters set by the Centre,
has earmarked four “red” zones
— Kolkata, Howrah, North 24
Parganas and East Midnapore.
?=BQ =4F34;78
In a unique way to honour all
“corona warriors” engaged in
the battle against the pandem-
ic, fighter jets will stream across
the skies from Srinagar to
Thiruvananthapuram and
Dibrugarh (Assam) to Kutch
(Gujarat) in thrilling fly past,
while helicopters will shower
petals on some hospitals. Army
bands will enthrall citizens in
almost all districts of the coun-
try. All these activities marking
show of solidarity with the
frontline “warriors” will take
place on May 3.
As part of these nationwide
thanksgiving gestures, the Navy
will also deploy its warships at
shores at various coastal towns
and light them up on Sunday
evening. Navy’s helicopters will
shower flower petals on some
hospitals treating corona-
affected people, Chief of
Defence Staff (CDS) General
Bipin Rawat said here on
Friday.
The three Services chiefs,
including General MM
Naravane, Air Chief Marshal
RK Bhadauria and Admiral
Karambir Singh, were also pre-
sent on the occasion.
Rawat also said on behalf
of the armed forces, “We want
to thank” all Covid-19 war-
riors like doctors, nurses, san-
itation workers, police, home
guards, delivery boys and
media which has been reach-
ing out with the message of
Government on “how to carry
on with lives in difficult
times.”
“We (wish to) convey our
gratitude to each and every
corona warrior and all the cit-
izens of our nation. On May 3
there will be some special
activities as a gesture of special
gratitude by all three forces,”
Rawat said.
“The nation stood togeth-
er, it showed resilience to over-
come this crisis. In our coun-
try, everybody understands
that when it comes to the
nation we have to stand togeth-
er,” he added.
Highlighting the crucial
role played by the police, he
said the armed forces will also
lay a wreath here at the
National Police Memorial on
May 3 as a mark of support of
the police forces.
Incidentally, this plan of
action for expressing gratitude
to the “corona warriors” was
discussed earlier in the day in
a high-level meeting between
Defence Minister Rajnath
Singh and National Security
Adviser Ajit Doval besides the
CDS and three chiefs.
C=A067D=0C70Q D108
In a significant development
that paved way for
Maharashtra Chief Minister
Uddhav Thackeray to get elect-
ed as an MLC before the stip-
ulated six month-deadline of
May 27, the Election
Commission of India (ECI) on
Friday announced it would
hold the biennial elections on
May 21 to fill nine MLCs seats.
Acting on the request
made by Governor Bhagat
Singh Koshyari to schedule
the elections “at the earliest”,
the ECI announced the
schedule between May 4 and
May 26 to complete the
process of elections to fill the
nine vacant seats in the Upper
House of the Maharashtra
Legislature.
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?=BQ =4F34;78
As the total tally of coron-
avirus cases zoomed past
36,000 on Friday, the Centre
split 733 districts across India
into Red, Orange and Green
zones, designating all metro-
politan cities (Delhi, Mumbai,
Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad,
Bengaluru and Ahmedabad)
into the “no activity” zone.
According to the list, there
are 130 Red zone districts,
where more stringent restric-
tions will be enforced post
May 3. However, there will be
partial easing in Orange zones
(284 districts) and liberal eas-
ing in Green zones (319 dis-
tricts). Current classification is
based on the incidence of coro-
navirus cases, doubling rate, the
extent of testing, and surveil-
lance feedback.
In a letter to Chief
Secretaries of all States and
Union Territories, Union
Health Secretary Preeti Sudan
gave details of the grading dis-
tricts in three categories, Red,
Orange and Green.
According to the letter,
Andhra Pradesh and Bihar
each have 5 districts in the Red
zone, Delhi has 11 while
Jammu Kashmir 4.
Jharkhand has 1, Karnataka 3,
Kerala 2, Maharashtra 14,
Odisha 3, Tamil Nadu 12,
Uttar Pradesh 19 and Bengal
10.
As per the letter a district
will be considered under green
zone if there are no confirmed
cases so far or there is no
reported case for the last 21
days in the district.
“All States are accordingly
requested to delineate the con-
tainment zones and buffer
zones in the identified red and
orange zone districts and noti-
fy the same,” she said.
All the six metros — Delhi,
Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai,
Bengaluru and Hyderabad —
have been classified as red
zone by the order.
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Against the national average
of 654 coronavirus tests per
million population as on May
1, Delhi is conducting about
2,300 tests.
Even as the national
Capital has high number of
Covid-19 patients, above 3,600,
the high rate of testing every 10
lakh population can be one of
the reasons for the high rate of
coronavirus cases in Delhi,
said Chief Minister Arvind
Kejriwal on Friday.
“When we see this number,
it seems that cases are rapidly
increasing in Delhi. It is hap-
pening because we are con-
ducting tests on a large scale in
Delhi. We are conducting 2,300
tests per 1 million people in
Delhi,” said Kejriwal.
The CM also said that the
Delhi Government will not
stop clinical trials of plasma
therapy to treat severally-ill
Covid-19 patients as its initial
results are good.
The announcement by the
Delhi CM came days after the
centre said that plasma thera-
py for treatment of coron-
avirus patients is at an experi-
mental stage and it has the
potential to cause life-threat-
ening complications.
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On a day the Centre
announced lockdown
extension by two weeks, the
country saw its biggest single
day surge of 2,300 plus new
cases in just 12 hours on Friday
with Maharashtra alone log-
ging 1,008 new cases, taking
the tally of cases to 11,506.
While 106 patients were
discharged on Friday upon
recovery, 26 Covid-19 patients
died, the State Health
Department said.
The death toll in the State
thus reached 485 and number
of discharged patients reached
1,879.
Maharashtra continued to
be the most affected State in the
country with a total number of
positive coronavirus cases
jumping to 11,506 while the
death toll stood at 485. For the
first time Telangana became the
latest State to cross more than
1,000 confirmed cases to touch
at 1,044.
In terms of the cases
reported, Maharashtra was
followed by Gujarat at 4,721
cases with 236 deaths, Delhi at
3,738 cases and Madhya
Pradesh at 2,719 cases and 137
deaths. Gujarat added 326
new cases, Delhi and MP 90
respectively.
The other States that have
reported total cases in four dig-
its were Rajasthan (2,642),
Tamil Nadu (2,526) and Uttar
Pradesh (2,328).
Tamil Nadu saw a major
surge on Friday with day’s
cases soaring by 203 and
Punjab added 105 cases to fol-
low a worrying trend following
several Takhat Sachkhand Sri
Hazur Abchal Nagar Sahib pil-
grims testing positive again
on Friday.
In West Bengal, the official
death count is 33 while the
Government has said 72 others
who had coronavirus and died,
passed away because of their
co-morbidities.
Among other major States,
Andhra Pradesh has reported
1,463 cases and 33 deaths,
Bihar stood at 426 cases and
two deaths, Haryana at 313 and
three deaths, Jammu
Kashmir at 614 cases and eight
deaths, Karnataka at 576 and 22
deaths and Kerala clocked 497
cases and four deaths.
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?=BQ 270=3860A7
To spur economic activities,
Haryana Chief Minister
Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday
approved new guidelines giving
conditional relaxations to
industry in the state with
immediate effect amid the
lockdown.
“As per the revised state
guidelines, activities shall be
allowed after obtaining a self-
declaration from the industri-
al units, commercial establish-
ments and construction pro-
jects, online. However, these
units will need to comply with
the standard operating proce-
dures (SOPs) as provided by
the Union Home Affairs
Ministry,” a statement issued by
the state government here said.
These guidelines would be
applicable only to units not
falling in a containment zone.
In 14 districts of Haryana
-- Ambala, Bhiwani, Charkhi
Dadri, Fatehabad, Hisar, Jind,
Kaithal, Karnal, Kurukshetra,
Mahendergarh, Rewari,
Rohtak, Sirsa and
Yamunanagar, immediate
approvals would be accorded
after application is submitted
on the state government portal
as per the norms.
For industries, industrial
establishments, and commer-
cial and private establishments
other than IT and ITeS units, if
the workforce requirement is
up to 20 people, 100 per cent
of the requirement would be
allowed whereas, in case there
is requirement of more than 20
people, 50 per cent of the
workforce or 20 people,
whichever is higher, would be
allowed.
“For IT and ITes units, in
case of workforce requirement
of up to 20 people, 50 per cent
of the requirement would be
allowed whereas, in case of
requirement of more than 20
people, 33 per cent of the
workforce or 10 people,
whichever is higher, would be
allowed,” the statement said.
For construction projects,
in every case of in-situ con-
struction projects where
employer can retain workforce
at the site, operations would be
allowed with 100 per cent of the
total workforce.
However, in case of non-
in-situ projects, operations
would be allowed with only 50
per cent of the total workforce.
In case the number of
COVID-19 active cases in any
of these 14 districts reaches 15,
all industrial units, commer-
cial establishments and con-
struction projects, would have
to shut down their opera-
tions.
In the remaining eight dis-
tricts of Faridabad, Gurugram,
Sonipat, Panipat, Nuh, Palwal,
Jhajjar and Panchkula, which
have maximum number of
active cases, permissions would
be granted on the basis of
development block/town or
zone.
If the number of COVID-
19 positive cases in the last 28
days in any block/ town or zone
reaches 10, then, no industrial
unit except essential goods and
services would be allowed to
operate.
Industries, commercial
establishments and construc-
tion projects employing less
than 10 workers in any of the
22 districts of Haryana need
not apply to the state govern-
ment and may resume opera-
tions subject to the social dis-
tancing norms and other
requirements as per the Union
Home Ministry guidelines.
Also, in all 22 districts,
industrial units, commercial
establishments and construc-
tion projects having in-situ
labour would be allowed to
operate, with all the workers
present in their premises.
In all districts in respect of
every unit that does not begin
functioning within 7 days of
approval, the approval would
be liable to be cancelled with-
out notice.
The district administra-
tion would continuously assess
the on-ground situation and if
new COVID-19 cases arise in
the district, the respective
deputy commissioners shall
review the guidelines.
In any district, 100 per cent
export-oriented units and those
units with 100 per cent in-situ
labour would be given prefer-
ence in issuance of passes and
other necessary facilitation
required to commence opera-
tions.
In case the industrial unit
or commercial establishment
makes arrangement for the
labour force to stay in a build-
ing near the factory premises or
project site, such cases would
be treated similar to in-situ
labour projects.
The statement said that as
MHA guidelines lay emphasis
on expediting the resumption
of industrial operations in rural
areas, all officials concerned
including the district adminis-
tration have been encouraged
to give preference to units in
rural areas.
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Himachal Chief Minister Jai
Ram Thakur on Friday
said the state government is
ensuring that essential items are
provided at the doorsteps of
people to restrict their move-
ment during lockdown period.
Assured that there was
enough stock of food, medi-
cines and other essential com-
modities in the State and no
one should worry as uninter-
rupted and continuous supply
chain of all commodities was
being ensured, he said the gov-
ernment has enrolled 1,706
vendors throughout the State
who have been delivering var-
ious goods and essentials on
the doorsteps of residents ben-
efiting 12,82,334 persons so far.
Thakur said that to ensure
regular supply of medicines
during lockdown period, 575
vendors have been authorized
for home delivery of medicines
in the State. These includes 20
vendors in Bilaspur, nine in
Chamba, 32 in Hamirpur, 44 in
Kangra, 19 in Kullu, one in
Lahaul-Spiti, 93 in Mandi, 125
in Shimla, 165 in Sirmour, 40
in Solan and 23 in Una district.
Total 1,507 persons in dis-
trict Bilaspur, 550 in Chamba,
1,472 in Hamirpur, 14,542 in
Kangra, 23 in Kinnaur, 387 in
Kullu, 73 in Lahaul-Spiti, 2,267
in Mandi, 7,111 in Shimla,
1,936 in Sirmour, 14,101 in
Solan and 404 in Una have
been benefited by home deliv-
ery of medicines.
The CM said grocery items
are required in every household
and 610 vendors have been
enrolled to maintain supply of
grocery items in all parts of the
State which has benefited
1,61,955 persons directly.
Similarly, 526 vendors have
been enrolled for home deliv-
ery of fruits and vegetables
which has benefitted 10,75,572
persons. Besides, 130 persons
took benefit of home delivery
of cooked food so far.
SPECIAL CAMPAIGN TO
MEDICALLY EXAMINE
PEOPLE ENTERING HP,
SAYS CM
Holding a video conference
with all the Deputy
C o m m i s s i o n e r s ,
Superintendents of Police and
Chief Medical Officers of the
State from Shimla on Friday,
Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur
said that a special campaign
would be launched on the
analogy of Active Case Finding
Campaign to medically exam-
ine the people entering to
Himachal Pradesh from other
States and these persons would
be kept in home quarantine.
He asked the officers that it
should be ensured that they do
not jump from home quaran-
tine.
Thakur asked officers to
compile the data of such per-
sons who have arrived in
Himachal Pradesh from other
States and if a person had
come from red zone he must be
kept in quarantine centre.
The CM directed the offi-
cers to ensure strict compliance
of guidelines of Union Ministry
of Home Affairs and make
elaborate arrangements to
bring the people of Himachal
Pradesh stranded in other
States. He said that State
Government had already
appointed adequate number
of supporting officers to the
Nodal Authority to coordinate
movement of the migrant
workers, pilgrims, tourists, stu-
dents and other persons both
within and outside the State.
He urged the representa-
tives of PRIs and Urban Local
Bodies to keep a close vigil on
the persons who had returned
from other States and per-
suade them to strictly follow
the norms of home quarantine.
He said that Himachal Pradesh
was in a comfortable position
till now and it must be ensured
that this situation is main-
tained at all costs.
Thakur said efforts should
be made to start economic
activities particularly in the
green zones, adding that special
thrust must be laid on provid-
ing smooth movement of
essential commodities and
farming equipments. He said
that people should also be
motivated to wear face masks
and face covers as this could
check spread corona virus.
The Chief Minister said
that since selective shops were
allowed to open in certain
areas, but it must be ensured
that effective social distancing
is maintained there and every-
one uses face masks and sani-
tizer.
Chief Secretary Anil
Khachi, Director General of
Police S.R. Mardi, Additional
Chief Secretary, Home Manoj
Kumar, Additional Chief
Secretary Health R.D. Dhiman
and Principal Secretaries J.C.
Sharma, Onkar Sharma and
Sanjay Kundu, Secretary IPR
Rajneesh also attended the
meeting.
HIMACHAL GOVT
APPOINTS NODAL OFFI-
CERS TO FACILITATE
INTERSTATE MOVEMENT
There are large number of
Himachali students, travellers,
pilgrims, professionals who are
currently stranded outside
Himachal Pradesh in different
states and Union Territories
due to lockdown and restric-
tion on interstate movement.
Likewise there are many per-
sons belonging to other states
and Union Territories, who
are presently staying in differ-
ent parts of Himachal Pradesh
as students, tourists, business
travellers, professionals.
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?=BQ 270=3860A7
The Chandigarh
Administration is likely to
revoke curfew order and put
in place lockdown restric-
tions from May 4 onwards.
Curfew was imposed in
Chandigarh on March 24.
Notably, the Central
Government on Friday issued
fresh orders extending the
nationwide lockdown by two
more weeks from May 4
onwards to contain the spread
of Coronavirus in the coun-
try.
With 88 Coronavirus
cases till Friday evening,
Chandigarh figures in the list
of red zones released by the
Central Government.
“The UT Admin is consid-
ering revoking the curfew order.
Lockdown restrictions are likely
to be put in place from May 4
onwards to ensure social dis-
tancing in the city,” said a senior
officer of UT Admin.
“We are also considering
removing the tag of ‘contain-
ment zone’ from the entire city
and declare the affected pock-
ets as ‘containment zones’.
With this, various activities as
per the latest guidelines of the
Central Government will be
allowed in non-containment
zone in Chandigarh,” the senior
officer said.
?=BQ 270=3860A7
As the number of COVID-
19 positive cases reached
88 in Chandigarh, the densely
populated Bapu Dham colony
in Sector 26 here continues to
remain the epicenter of out-
break of highly contagious dis-
ease.
After the first positive case
of COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
from the Bapu Dham colony
was reported on the night of
April 24, the “affected pocket”
has seen an explosion of infect-
ed patients with number
recorded at 37 so far and the
reports of more infected peo-
ple continued to pour in till late
Friday night.
Chandigarh continues to
figure in the new list of 130
COVID-19 red-zone districts
released by the Central
Government and the doubling
rate of Coronavirus cases stood
at 4.77 days in the city.
After imposing curfew in
the city on March 24 to stem
the spread of Coronavirus, the
Administration has so far
sealed “six affected pockets”
including part of Bapu Dham
colony (BDC), part of Sector
30-B, Kacchi Colony, Dhanas,
part of Shastri Nagar, Part of
Sector 38 and Part of Sector 52.
Out of the total 88
Coronavirus cases, 60 percent
cases have been reported from
Bapu Dham colony (BDC) and
Sector 30 in the city.
The total cases stood at 88
while active cases were 70 and
those cured from the
Coronavirus included 18, as
per the Chandigarh Health
Department’s evening bulletin.
As per the mapping of
infected cases done by
Administration, a maximum of
37 cases have so far been
reported from BDC, 16 from
Sector 30, five each from Sector
21 and 33, three each from
Sector 6, 9, 10 and 12, two each
from Sector 19, 49 and one
each from Sectors- 15, 18, 35,
29, Dhanas, Maloya, Mauli
Jagran, PGIMER and Ram
Darbar.
In the past one week, a
sharp surge in the number of
COVID-19 patients is wit-
nessed in the city with 60 fresh
cases reported. 1252 samples
have been tested for
Coronavirus in the city till
now, according to the Health
Department’s bulletin.
As a precautionary mea-
sure, 3530 residents have been
put under home quarantine till
now, out of which 1945 have
completed the quarantine peri-
od.
UT Health-cum-Home
Secretary Anil Kumar Gupta
told The Pioneer that the dou-
bling rate of Coronavirus cases
is 4.77 days in Chandigarh,
which is included in the list of
red-zone by Central
Government.
HARYANA REPORTS 18
FRESH CASES, TOTAL 357
With 18 new corona virus
cases, the total number of pos-
itive Covid-19 cases has risen
to 357 in Haryana. Of these,
112 patients are active corona
virus cases, and a total of 241
patients have been discharged
as of Friday.
According to the State gov-
ernment’s health bulletin, 18
fresh cases were reported from
Gurugram, Sirsa, Faridabad,
Sonepat, Jhajjar districts. The
worst affected districts of the
state with maximum number of
positive cases are Faridabad
(61), Nuh (58), Gurgaon (57)
and Palwal (34).
While hard hit Faridabad
reported eight more case, tak-
ing the total number of Covid-
19 cases in the district to 61,
Gurugram district that had so
far reported 54 cases over two
weeks ago, added three more,
taking the tally to 57. Jhajjar
reported 4 more case, taking
the tally to 28. Sonepat report-
ed one more case, taking the
tally to 26. Two more cases
reported in Sirsa, taking the
tally to 6.
As many as 30,191 samples
have been tested so far, out of
which 27, 784 have tested neg-
ative. The report of 2, 050
samples is awaited.
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As per the classification by
the Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare, only one of
Uttarakhand’s 13 districts has
been classified under Red zone.
Haridwar district has been
classified as a Red zone. While
Dehradun and Nainital dis-
tricts have been categorised as
Orange zones, the remaining
districts- Udham Singh Nagar,
Almora, Pauri, Bageshwar,
Chamoli, Champawat,
Pithoragarh, Rudraprayag,
Uttarkashi and Tehri have been
classified as Green zones.
According to the new
guidelines issued by the
Ministry of Home Affairs to
regulate different activities in
the extended period of lock-
down for two weeks from May
4, considerable relaxations have
been permitted in the districts
falling in the Green and Orange
zones.
In the Red zones, outside
the containment zones, certain
activities are prohibited in
addition to those prohibited
throughout the country.
These include plying of
cycle rickshaws and auto rick-
shaws; running of taxis and cab
aggregators; intra-district and
inter-district plying of buses;
and, barber shops, spas and
salons. Certain other activities
have been allowed in the Red
zones with restrictions.
Movement of individuals and
vehicles is allowed only for
permitted activities, with a
maximum of two persons
(besides the driver) in four-
wheeler vehicles, and with no
pillion rider in the case of
two-wheelers. Industrial estab-
lishments in urban areas-
Special Economic Zones
(SEZs), Export Oriented Units
(EOUs), industrial estates and
industrial townships with
access control have been per-
mitted.
The other industrial activ-
ities permitted are manufac-
turing units of essential goods,
including drugs, pharmaceuti-
cals, medical devices, their raw
material and intermediates;
production units, which
require continuous process,
and their supply chain; manu-
facturing of IT hardware; jute
industry with staggered shifts
and social distancing; and,
manufacturing units of pack-
aging material. Construction
activities in urban areas have
been limited to in-situ con-
struction and construction of
renewable energy projects.
Shops in urban areas, for non-
essential goods, are not allowed
in malls, markets and market
complexes.
However, all standalone
shops, neighborhood shops
and shops in residential com-
plexes are permitted to remain
open in urban areas, without
any distinction of essential and
non-essential. Private offices
can operate with upto 33%
strength as per requirement,
with the remaining persons
working from home.
All government offices
shall function with senior offi-
cers of the level of Deputy
Secretary and above at full
strength, and the remaining
staff attending upto 33% as per
requirement. All industrial and
construction activities are
allowed in rural areas.
All agriculture, plantation
and animal husbandry activi-
ties are permitted. All health
services are to remain func-
tional while a large part of the
financial sector will remain
open.
Most of the commercial
and private establishments have
been allowed in the Red zones.
These include print and elec-
tronic media, IT and IT
enabled services, data and call
centres, cold storage and ware-
housing services, private secu-
rity and facility management
services, and services provided
by self-employed persons,
except for barbers etc, as stat-
ed earlier. In the Orange zones,
in addition to activities per-
mitted in Red zone, taxis and
cab aggregators will be per-
mitted with one driver and two
passengers only.
Inter-district movement of
individuals and vehicles will be
allowed for permitted activities
only.
In the Green zones, all
activities are permitted except
the limited number of activities
which are prohibited through-
out the country, irrespective of
the zone. However buses can
operate with upto 50% seating
capacity and bus depots can
operate with upto 50% capac-
ity.
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?=BQ 347A03D=
The distribution of Take
Home Ration (THR) to
the beneficiaries of Dehradun
district will begin from the next
week, said Chief Development
Officer (CDO) Nitika
Khandelwal. In order to pro-
vide a better and healthy diet to
the malnourished beneficia-
ries, peanut butter has also
been added to their THR now.
In April, the Anganwadi
workers home delivered the
monthly THR to more than
one lakh beneficiaries.
Similarly, the Anganwadi
workers will deliver the ration
to the homes of beneficiaries
this month too due to the
extended lockdown on the
directions of the State
Government.
The beneficiaries mostly
include children, pregnant
women, and lactating mothers
among others which are being
provided THR under
Supplementary Nutrition
Programme (SNP) of
Integrated Child Development
Services (ICDS).
DPO said that THR will be
distributed by Anganwadi
workers while taking the safe-
ty measures like using mask,
maintaining social distance,
and regular use of sanitiser
while delivering ration to the
homes.
She also said that to pro-
vide a healthy diet to more than
one thousand undernourished
and malnourished beneficiaries
including women with high-
risk pregnancies, peanut butter
is being added to the THR this
month.
A Kashipur based compa-
ny is providing peanut butter to
the state government.
According to the sources, the
said company has already deliv-
ered about 3000 kilogrammes
peanut butter to the state
administration.
The THR including the
peanut butter will be delivered
to the Anganwadi workers with
the help of Self Help Groups
(SHGs), said Khandelwal. She
also informed that no
Anganwadi worker will be sent
to any containment zone of the
district as per the orders.
She said, There are suffi-
cient Anganwadi workers in
the containment zones so we
do not need to send anyone
from the outside area. We
deliver THR through the bar-
ricades to the Anganwadi
workers in the sealed areas
which they distribute similar to
other workers.”
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?=BQ 347A03D=
A56-year-old woman who
was positive for Covid-19
and was undergoing treatment
in the Intensive Care Unit
(ICU) of All India Institute of
Medical Sciences (AIIMS)
Rishikesh died on Friday. She
incidentally became the first
patient of COVID-19 to have
died in the State. The AIIMS
authorities and the State health
department however claim that
Coronavirus was not the cause
of the death of the woman who
was resident of Lalkuan in
Haldwani, Nainital district. In
a statement, the director of
AIIMS Rishikesh, Ravi Kant
said that the though the woman
was COVID-19 positive, she
died from brain bleed. “She had
a major problem of brain bleed
due to very high blood pressure
in the area of the brain which
controls all systems. She was
also suffering from pneumonia
and had urinary infection too,’’
he said.
The deceased was brought
to AIIMS, Rishikesh on April
22 and on April 28 she was
found positive for COVID-19.
It is learnt that she was brought
to AIIMS from Haldwani in a
very serious condition. Since
she was COVID-19 positive,
the administration has decid-
ed not to conduct her post -
mortem.
It is pertinent to mention
here that first case of COVID-
19 was reported in the state on
March 15 when a trainee offi-
cer of Indian Forest Service
(IFS) was found positive for the
disease. After that the number
of patients of the disease in the
state has risen to 57 out of
whom 37 patients have so far
recovered from the disease
completely.
On a positive note the rate
of increase of the number of
patients in Uttarakhand has
remained less than most of the
state.
The rate of recovery of the
affected patients is also 64.91
percent which is much better
than the national average of
about 25 percent.
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?=BQ 347A03D=
No new patient of the novel
Coronavirus (COVID-
19) was detected by the State
health department in
Uttarakhand on Friday.
One patient of the disease
was discharged from the
Government Doon Medical
College (GDMC) hospital on
the day after he won the bat-
tle against the disease.The
additional secretary, state
health department, Yugal
Kishore Pant said that reports
of 408 suspected patients were
received by the department on
Friday till 6.00 pm and all
them were found negative for
the disease. He said that
reports of 192 samples are still
awaited by the department.
The authorities have so
far taken swab samples of
7042 suspected patients for
COVID-19 test. On Friday,
samples of 226 suspected
patients were taken and sent
to the lab for test. After recov-
ery of 37 patients and death of
one patient Uttarakhand now
has only 19 active cases of
COVID-19.
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Since the implementation of
lockdown in the State, a
number of labourers are fang
challenges in Dehradun and
other parts of the State. While
some of them are glad about
getting adequate ration supplies
for their families from the
administration during the cur-
rent crisis, most of them are
migrant workers who only
want to return to their villages.
On the occasion of Labour Day,
some labourers shared their
experiences during the lock-
down and what do they expect
once it gets over.
Shyam Kumar, a labourer
from Bihar said, I live with
four other labourers near Tehsil
Chowk. Though, we often get
ration and cooked food pack-
ets from the administration, it
is still hard for us to manage to
buy some basic things like a
packet of milk for tea, sugar
and kerosene.
His room-mate
Suryabhushan Lal said, “Last
week, we had ration but did not
have kerosene in our stove to
cook food. Generally, our con-
tractor manages kerosene for
us as we do not possess ration
cards but last week we had to
buy it from a man who charged
C480 for four litres of kerosene,
half of which is still pending.”
According to a local
labourer Lal Chand, he is
happy with the Government
providing them food and
ration but some people make
them feel humiliated too. “We
are regularly getting food from
the administration. Sometimes
some NGOs and social work-
ers also deliver the food in our
colony but most people just
want to click pictures while
handling us the ration.
Our families are thankful
for the help but sometimes it
feels humiliating too. We are
poor but we earn our bread. I
hope this lockdown gets over
soon so that we can go back to
earn our livelihood,” said
Chand.
On about being asked
about their expectations after
the lockdown is lifted, many
replied that they will return to
their native villages to help
their families in the fields while
some of them expect to resume
their work. I will return to
Bihar if the Government allows
because it is better to help my
family with crops in fields
than wasting my time here. The
danger will not be over soon so
it is better to stay at home and
harvest crops, opined Arun
Sharma. Another worker
Suryakant Chandra said, Some
of my fellow workers have got
work under MGNREGA this
week, I hope those who are not
registered under this pro-
gramme will get the work too
after the lockdown.
?=BQ 347A03D=
The Registrar of Doon
University, Dehradun,
Mangal Singh Mandarwal
opines that the students can
make best use of the prevailing
lockdown period enforced by
the Government to flatten the
contagion curve of novel
Coronavirus by enrolling
themselves in various online
certificate and diploma cours-
es. Talking to The Pioneer on
Friday, he said that these cours-
es available on various plat-
forms are of duration ranging
from one week to few months
would help the students in
enhancing their skill set and
increase their confidence.
“Apart from students, the
teachers can also make use of
online orientation and refresh-
er courses to keep them updat-
ed. The lockdown is a forced
thing but it does not prevent us
from increasing our knowledge
and skills,’’ he quipped.
Mandarwal informed that the
University Grants Commission
(UGC) in its guidelines had
informed about many portals,
web links, Massive Open
Online Courses (MOOC),
Study Webs for Active Learning
for Young Aspiring Minds
(SWAYAM) platform and
National Digital Library on
which the students can con-
tinue their academic activities
and quest for learning. He
added that apart from provid-
ing all these options to the stu-
dents, the university has start-
ed online classes in all the sub-
jects. “Though I personally
believe that the virtual class-
room cannot replace a real
classroom but under the pre-
vailing circumstances they are
the best option available to
ensure continuance of the stud-
ies. At times it is difficult for a
teacher to check involvement of
a student in online classes. We
have asked the teachers to pre-
serve the record of the online
classes with them,’’ he said.
The registrar said that the
Ministry of the Human
Resource Development
(MHRD) has issued broad
guidelines regarding academ-
ic calendar and semester exam-
inations but it also has given the
universities considerable free-
dom. “Doon University con-
ducts an entrance examination
for its various graduate and
post graduate courses and for
them the preparation normal-
ly starts from month of March
itself.
Under the prevailing cir-
cumstances we would not be
able to adopt the process of
entrance examination to select
students this year so we are
planning to make new admis-
sions on the basis of a merit list.
This list would be prepared on
the basis of marks obtained in
the qualifying examination
which is class XII for under
graduate courses and marks of
graduation for Post Graduate
courses,’’ he said. On the
schedule of semester examina-
tion of the university,
Mandarwal said that the uni-
versity would soon issue a
directive to all teachers to com-
plete their courses by May 31
and after that we would declare
summer vacations from June 1
to 30. He said that the univer-
sity is planning to conduct the
examination in the month of
July. Mandarwal added that the
mode of examination and
schedule would be decided
later after analysing the situa-
tion.
On the mental stress
which the long lockdown is
supposed to ignite in the stu-
dents, Mandarwal informed
that on the directives of the
UGC, the university has set up
a committee to ‘facilitate and
monitor mental health and
well being of students during
and after lockdown from
COVID-19. He said that the
committee would look into
mental health aspect by talking
to the students and provide
necessary counselling to them.
The committee has a psychol-
ogy professor, a physician and
wardens of boys and girls hos-
tels. The registrar said that the
each one of the University staff
including the contractual
employees have donated one
day of their salary to the CM’s
relief fund for COVID-19.
He said that the university
staff is preparing 150 packets of
cooked nutritious food daily
and providing it to the poor
from start of lockdown period.
This philanthropic work is
being done under the watchful
eyes of Dean, student welfare
and head of department (HoD)
of School of Management, H C
Purohit, he concluded.
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?=BQ 347A03D=
Chief Minister Trivendra
Singh Rawat has requested
the Union Railway Minister
Piyush Goyal for operation of
12 special trains on various
routes to bring back people to
Uttarakhand from various
parts of the nation where they
are stranded. He has requested
that these special trains be
operated on routes from Delhi
to Dehradun, Delhi to
Haldwani, Chandigarh to
Dehradun, Lucknow to
Dehradun, Lucknow to
Haldwani, Jaipur to Dehradun,
Jaipur to Haldwani, Mumbai to
Dehradun, Mumbai to
Haldwani, Bhopal to
Dehradun, Bengaluru to
Dehradun and from
Ahmedabad to Dehradun.
Rawat talked to the Union
minister and conveyed this
request after chairing a meet
regarding the return of strand-
ed people to the state.
Responding to Rawat’s
request, the Union Railway
Minister said that permission
will be granted for the trains
sought on the long routes.
However, permission will be
required from the Ministry of
Home Affairs for the trains
sought on shorter routes. Rawat
said that there are many peo-
ple from Uttarakhand in Delhi
and Chandigarh who want to
return back to their home
state. The CM said that he will
request the Union Minister
for Home Affairs, Amit Shah to
allow the operation of trains
from these stations too.
Earlier, while chairing the
meeting with senior officials,
Rawat said that establishing
coordination with the states
concerned, arrangements
should be made to systemati-
cally bring back people to the
state. Full care should be taken
to maintain personal distanc-
ing, sanitisation and wearing of
masks in the process. Those
who are to be brought back
should be fully screened and
the whole task should be con-
ducted as per the Central Govt
guidelines. In case of those sent
to home quarantine after
returning to Uttarakhand, strict
observance of the quarantine
must be ensured. Gram
Pradhans can be given some
rights if needed to ensure this,
he said.
Secretary Shailesh Bagauli
said that so far about 87,000
persons had registered to
return to the state. Most of
these people belong to the
mountainous districts.
Chief secretary Utpal
Kumar Singh, director gener-
al of police Anil Kumar Raturi,
secretaries Amit Singh Negi,
Nitesh Jha and Radhika Jha
were also present in the meet-
ing.
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The Chief Minister
Trivendra Singh Rawat has
requested all the private doctors
in the state to start their out-
patient department (OPD)
facility to provide necessary
medical services to the gener-
al public.
The CM said that in the
recent past, he had held talks
with office bearers of the
Uttarakhand chapter of the
Indian Medical Association
(IMA) during which they had
agreed to resume OPD service.
However, even after that some
private doctors have not yet
resumed their OPD services.
Rawat said, “I request all
the doctors to cooperate. In
these times of such an emer-
gency, it is also the moral duty
of the doctors and is necessary
and required. All of you are
serving the public and it is your
utmost responsibility to protect
the health of the people.
Considering this, all the doc-
tors should resume their OPD
services and treat the people
who require services of the doc-
tors,” he said.
It will be recalled that on
March 30, the CM had held a
meeting with representatives of
IMA Uttarakhand chapter. The
IMA office bearers had assured
full support to the state govern-
ment. However barring big pri-
vatehospitalsmanyofthesmall-
erprivatehospitalsandclinicsare
not treating patients due to
which general public is facing
problem. In the bigger hospitals
like Mahant Indiresh, Kailash
and CMI the OPDs are open.
Precautionslikethermalscreen-
ing, maintaining social distanc-
ing,applyingsanitisersandother
stepsarebeingtakenintheOPD.
It is pertinent to mention here
thatmorethan2,400doctorsare
themembersoftheUttarakhand
chapter of IMA. In Dehradun
alonetherearemorethanprivate
175 clinics and small hospitals.
?=BQ 347A03D=
In a major relief to the parents, the
Uttarakhand Government has direct-
ed the private schools to charge only
tuition fee for the period of lockdown
from the parents. Strict action would be
taken against the schools that would
exert pressure on the parents to charge
additional fees in excess of the tuition
fees. These orders were given by edu-
cation minister Arvind Pandey to the
officers of the department while under-
taking a video conferencing session with
the district magistrates (DMs) and
chief education officers (CEO) of all the
districts on Friday. The chief secretary,
Utpal Kumar Singh and the secretary,
education, R Meenakshi Sundaram
were also present in the session. In the
meeting the minister said that the
state government is engaged in a bat-
tle to prevent spread of novel
Coronavirus (COVID-19) and the
intention of the government is provide
relief to the general public during this
time of crisis. He said that some private
schools are exerting unnecessary pres-
sure on the parents to deposit additional
fees which is illegal. Pandey warned that
strict action would be initiated against
such schools. He also directed the offi-
cers to ensure that the schools don’t
force parents to deposit the fees of the
whole year or some months at one time.
The schools should give the option of
depositing fees in instalments to the
parents. The minister added that due to
the lockdown all schools are closed but
some schools are asking parents to
deposit conveyance, computer and
other fees. On a stern note, the minis-
ter said that the recognition of such
schools can get cancelled.
He however added that the parents
who are capable to fees in one instal-
ment only are free to do so. Pandey said
that the complaint against the schools
charging excess fees should be for-
warded to him so that necessary action
can be taken against them. He clarified
that all the schools should only rec-
ommend the textbooks of NCERT
only.
Pandey warned that punitive action
is needed to be taken against the block
development officers (BEO), district
education officers (DEO) and CEOs
who have proved to be incapable of act-
ing against corruption.
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The nation-wide lockdown
enforced to control the
spread of COVID-19 and inter-
mittent rainfall in Uttarakhand
is exerting a protective impact
on the forests in the State. The
lockdown and the rain have
drastically reduced the inci-
dents of forest fire this year.
Most forest fires are caused by
human actions so with the
lockdown preventing move-
ment of general public in the
jungles, the forest fires this year
have been negligible so far.
Whereas, generally forest fires
afflict Uttarakhand consider-
ably during April, this year the
number of forest fires has been
considerably less. Officials
believe that the intermittent
rains being experienced during
the past month have also con-
tributed to this.
It is pertinent to mention
here that the forest fire season
begins on February 15 and lasts
till the advent of the monsoon
season. Every year, the forest
department undertakes pre-
cautionary measures to prevent
forest fires. To ensure such
preparations this year too, the
state government exempted
the forest personnel from lock-
down duty and directed them
to discharge their original
duties. The precautionary mea-
sures fire lines which measure
about 13,917 kilometres in
length in Uttarakhand. Every
year before the start of the for-
est fire season these fire lines
are cleaned. Bushes growing on
these lines are cleared and leaf
litter is burnt in a controlled
manner. Despite this and other
measures, the state generally
experiences considerable forest
fires during April.
This used to result in about
100 to 200 hectares of forests
being affected by forest fires in
the past years. However,
according to data received
from the forest department,
this year till April 30 only
about 11.03 hectare was affect-
ed by forest fire. This is dras-
tically less than the 99.29
hectare area affected by forest
fires by April 30 in 2019. Apart
from the rains being experi-
enced intermittently for about
a month now, the restriction of
human activities during the
lockdown has also contributed
to decrease in forest fires.
According to official data,
about 19,945 hectare forest
area was affected by forest fires
from 2010 to 2019. This
amounts to about 1994 hectare
forest area being affected by
forest fires each year.
The forest department
nodal officer for forest fires, VK
Gangte said that apart from the
lockdown, the intermittent
rains experienced this year
also contributed to the drop in
forest fire incidents. The rains
being experienced every few
days are also preventing the
forest fires from spreading.
Apart from this, the forest
department personnel are also
alert while discharging their
duties in the forest areas, he
added.
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With corona pandemic
scare likely to impact
functioning of all establish-
ments and institutions for some
time to come, the Centre is
devising new guidelines for
the modus operandi of acade-
mic institutions.
Sources in the HRD
Ministry said that new seating
arrangements in classrooms,
hostels, common spaces,
libraries and assembly among
others keeping in mind the
social distancing mantra to
fight COVID-19 will be
enforced when the classes
resume.
For schools, suspension of
morning assemblies and sports
activities in the playground,
norms for school buses, do's
and dont's in washrooms and
cafeterias and regular disinfec-
tion of entire buildings, could
be part of the guidelines even
as masks will be a mandatory
part of school uniforms. For
residential schools, guidelines
will detail social distancing
norms to be followed in mess-
es and hostels.
A HRD Ministry official
said whenever schools and col-
leges reopen, proper social dis-
tancing norms will have to be
followed as health and safety of
students have to be the prior-
ity.
The guidelines are being
formed by the Ministry's
Department of School
Education and Literacy for
schools and by the University
Grants Commission (UGC)
for universities and higher
education institutions.
Universities and schools
across the country have been
closed since March 16 when
the Central Government
announced a countrywide
classroom shutdown as one of
the measures to contain the
COVID-19 outbreak. Later, a
nationwide lockdown was
announced on March 24,
which was extended till May 3.
While the UGC has already
recommended that academic
session for freshers may begin
in September and for enrolled
students in August, schools
are also doing teaching-learn-
ing activities through different
virtual mediums.
The guidelines will
include a checklist and recom-
mended measures to ensure
student and staff safety.
However, the COVID-19 situ-
ation in a particular area will
also be have to kept in mind
and the institutions will have
flexibility to adapt to the guide-
lines accordingly.
The Minister has reiterat-
ed many times that the safety
and health of students has to be
prioritised, said the official.
The guidelines are being
formed and will also be shared
with States so they can prepare
accordingly before reopening
schools and colleges.
Districts will be tasked
with the implementation of
the guidelines and certain
spaces in the campuses will
have to be revamped to ensure
social distancing, the official
added.
HRD Minister Ramesh
Pokhriyal 'Nishank' had also
deliberated upon the issue of
safety guidelines in a meeting
with state education ministers
last week. Nishank will interact
with students from across the
country through webinar on
Saturday afternoon.
Several Indian Institutes
of Technology (IITs) are also
working on chalking out ways
for students to follow social
distancing, including restrict-
ing entry of visitors, classes in
shifts and staggered labora-
tory timings.
As per UGC recommen-
dations, semester exams can
be conducted in July either
online or offline.
So, far the exams hap-
pening online, the safety
guidelines will have to be
followed and same will apply
to conduct of competitive
examinations, the official
said.
Central Board of
Secondary Education (CBSE)
has reiterated that it will con-
duct pending class 10 and 12
board exams in 29 subjects
but has not announced the
schedule yet.
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As Prime Minister Narendra
Modi on Friday reviewed
the affairs of the aviation and
power sectors, a decision was
taken that the Indian air space
should be effectively used in a
manner that flying time for
travellers is reduced and air-
lines also save costs.
And this will be done in
close cooperation with the
Department of Military Affairs,
an official statement said after
Modi held the comprehensive
meeting to review the strategies
that could help in making
India's civil aviation sector
more efficient.
For generation of more
revenue as well as to bring in
more efficiency at the airports,
the Ministry of Civil Aviation
has been asked to expedite the
process of handing over of six
more airports on PPP basis by
commencing the tender
process within three months,
it said.
Home Minister Amit
Shah, Finance Minister
Nirmala Sitharaman and Civil
Aviation Minister Hardeep
Singh Puri among others
attended the meeting, which
also reviewed the e-DGCA
project, aimed at bringing in
more transparency in the
DGCA's office and helping all
stakeholders by reducing the
processing time for various
licences and permissions.
It was also decided that
all reform initiatives taken by
the Ministry of Civil Aviation
and the organizations under it
should proceed in a time
bound manner, the state-
ment added
The civil aviation sector
has been severely hit by the
coronavirus pandemic, which
forced governments around
the world to impose restric-
tions on the movement of
people and virtually shut
flights.
As for the power sector,
the Prime Minister discussed
various long-term reforms for
enhancing sustainability,
resilience, and efficiency of
the key sector.
“The discussions included
measures regarding ease of
doing business; propagation of
renewables; flexibility in sup-
ply of coal; role of public-pri-
vate partnerships; and boost-
ing investment in the power
sector. The need for effective
enforcement of contracts for
attracting private investments
was discussed,” the official
statement said.
He emphasised the impor-
tance of ‘consumer-centricity’
and directed to work towards
the goal of supplying 24x7
quality and reliable power to
all consumers.
“Measures for improving
viability of distribution com-
panies, including tariff ratio-
nalisation and timely release
of subsidies along with
improved governance were
also discussed,” the statement
said.
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The BJP and the Congress
continued to snipe at each
other over the efficacy of mea-
sures under the lockdown as
the ruling party on Friday
expressed shock that its oppo-
sition counterpart sees guide-
lines of Ministry of Home
Affairs as a joke and use pan-
demic as a “political opportu-
nity”.
In his response to Congress
criticism of MHA steps to trans-
port stranded workers to their
native places, BJP National
spokesperson Sambit Patra said
rather than giving any positive
suggestion, the Opposition was
always trying to find fault with
the steps taken by the Union
Government.
Patra said constant bicker-
ing and pessimism during these
times are not the solutions.
Hitting back, the BJP leader
said,“It’sastonishingandshock-
ing that senior Congress leader
AbhishekManuSinghviseesthe
MHA guidelines on migrant
labourers as a joke.”
Patra asked the Congress
not to use the coronavirus pan-
demic as a “political opportuni-
ty” as he expressed shock at the
opposition party criticising the
Home Ministry guidelines on
inter-state movement of strand-
ed workers.
“The Congress should
restrain itself from spreading
canards, falsities and misinfor-
mation purely for political gain
during a pandemic. The MHA
guidelines lay down standard
operating procedures (SOPs)
for states to follow during
migrants’ transfer. States are in
talks with each other to effec-
tively carry forward this mam-
moth task,” Patra said.
The BJP reacted after the
Congress accused the Centre of
“cruelly” and “mercilessly”
abandoning the entire category
ofmigrantlabourersandtermed
“a cruel joke” the order on inter-
state movement of workers.
“A few days ago Rahul
Gandhi had stated that lock-
down is of no help… Our sim-
ple suggestion to the Congress
is not to use the pandemic as a
political opportunity,” he said.
In his press conference,
Singhvi said the “mismanage-
ment” of migrant labour shows
the approach the central gov-
ernment has adopted towards
the poor of the country.
“The Centre has merciless-
ly, cruelly and without second
thought abandoned the entire
category of migrant labour,” he
had said.
The BJP and the Congress
have been locking horns fol-
lowing the announcement of
lockdownonMarch24byPrime
Minister Narendra Modi and
overthemeasurestakensinceby
the Government.
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Five more States, including
Bihar and Punjab, have
joined the 'One Nation-One
Ration Card' system, taking the
total ration card portability to
17 States and Union territories
helping 60 crore beneficiaries.
The food ministry is aiming to
implement this facility across
the country from June 1.
Today, 5 more States - Bihar,
UP, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh
and Daman and Diu - have
been integrated with One
Nation-One Ration Card
System, Union Consumer
Affairs Minister Ram Vilas
Paswan said in a tweet.
Under the 'One Nation-
One Ration Card' initiative,
eligible beneficiaries would be
able to avail their entitled food-
grains under the National Food
Security Act (NFSA) from any
Fair Price Shop in the country
using the same ration card.
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana,
Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana,
Rajasthan, Karnataka, Kerala,
Madhya Pradesh, Goa,
Jharkhand and Tripura are 12
states where ration card porta-
bility has been implemented.
The beneficiaries can lift 50 per
cent of their entitlement.
On January 1 this year, 12
states were integrated among
each other and now 17 states are
on integrated management of
the public distribution system
(PDS), also called ration
shops/fair price shops, he
added.
About 60 crore beneficia-
ries from 17 states and UTs can
benefit from the ration card
portability and they can pur-
chase the subsidised foodgrains
using the existing ration cards,
an official statement said.
According to the state-
ment, the ministry has decid-
ed to integrate the five states
after assessing their technical
preparedness.
The State officials were
given technical assistance and
training for the same.
The five States have been
asked to immediately begin
monitoring of the new system,
it said, and added that the
Centre is pursuing with other
states to join the ration card
portability system at the earli-
est. There are over 81 crore ben-
eficiaries in the country regis-
tered under the NFSA for sub-
sidised foodgrains of 5 kilo per
person at C1-3/kg.
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The total number of Covid-
19 positive cases in 31
Battalion of CRPF reached 70
on Friday of which one has
recovered and another has died
leaving a tally of 68 active
cases even as the ITBP has now
contracted the viral disease
with five personnel getting
inflicted with the pandemic.
Meanwhile, 49 personnel,
including a Deputy Inspector
General, of the Welfare Branch
of CRPF headquarters here
have been home quarantined
after Havildar showed symp-
toms of the pandemic on
Wednesday even as his test
report for Covid-19 is awaited.
In the Indo-Tibetan Border
Police (ITBP), two personnel
deployed here with the Delhi
police company at Shastri Park
and residing in Rohini area
with the Company have been
tested positive for the disease.
Another three personnel test-
ed positive for corona virus
located at the paramilitary's
Tigri Camp here. Following the
detection of the positive cases
in the ITBP ranks, about 100
personnel have been quaran-
tined after detailed contact
tracing of the people who came
in contact with the infected
personnel.
All the development like
detection and quarantine of the
personnel has been effected
during the last 48 hours, ITBP
officials said.
As many as 17 positive
cases have been identified in
the CRPF's 31 Battalion during
the last 24 hours, officials said.
Entire 31 Battalion of the CRPF
located at the paramilitary's
Mayur Vihar camp here has
been quarantined following
the death of Sub Inspector
Mohammad Ikram Hussain.
Swab samples of over 400 per-
sonnel of the CRPF's 31
Battalion have already been col-
lected and the test reports are
coming in batches, CRPF offi-
cials said.
Out of the 70 positive cases
in 31 Battalion, one patient has
recovered whuile Hussain suc-
cumbed to the disease owing to
underlying conditions of dia-
betes and hypertension.
On Wednesday, Havildar
Om Prakash Sahu exhibited
Covid-19 symptoms like sore
throat and headache following
which his swab sample was sent
to Ram Manohar Lohia
Hospital for testing. While his
report is awaited, Sahu is said
to be showing improvement in
his condition.
However, 49 personnel
including DIG Rajeev Ranjan
Kumar, two Commandants,
one Second-in-Command offi-
cer, two Deputy Commandants
and an Assistant Commandant
among others were home quar-
antined for 14 days as they had
come in contact with Sahu,
officials added.
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The protective gears meant
to protect them during
their fight against the deadly
contagion are harming corona
warriors globally in more ways
than one. If the risk of falling
prey to the deadly invisible
virus wasn't enough, frontline
healthcare workers are battling
an altogether different problem
— their protective gears are
leaving them bruised.
A new study of medical
staff treating Covid-19-infect-
ed patients has found that 42.8
per cent experienced serious
skin injury related to the use of
personal protective equipment
(PPE), including masks, gog-
gles, face shields, and protective
gowns.
Researchers concluded that
the skin injuries put staff at
increased risk of infection,
with insufficient prevention
and treatment measures in
place, according to the study
published in Advances in
Wound Care, a monthly peer-
reviewed journal from Mary
Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.
The article entitled The
Prevalence, Characteristics and
Prevention Status of Skin
Injury Caused by Personal
Protective Equipment Among
Medical Staff in Fighting
Covid-19: A Multi-Center,
Cross-Sectional Study was
coauthored by Qixia Jiang,
Nanjing University School of
Medicine (Nanjing, China)
and a large team of Chinese
clinicians.
The researchers identified
three main types of PPE-relat-
ed skin injuries: device-related
pressure injuries; moist asso-
ciated skin damage; skin tear.
Several factors increased
the risk for skin injury: heavy
sweating, greater daily wearing
time, being male, and using
grade 3 versus grade 2 PPE.
These significant find-
ings are consistent with inde-
pendent observations in
Europe and United States, and
call for systematic studies
addressing skin injury and
repair in Covid-19+ patients as
well as in their healthcare
providers, said Editor-in-
Chief Chandan K. Sen, PhD,
Distinguished Professor at the
Indiana University School of
Medicine and Executive
Director of Indiana University
Health Comprehensive Wound
Center, Indianapolis, IN.
0A270=09HC8Q =4F34;78
The firewood extracted from
20 lakh trees which were
uprooted last year in the wake
of Fani Cyclone in Odisha’s
Balukhand-Konark Wildlife
Sanctuary will be used for run-
ning the kitchen of Lord
Jagannath temple in Puri.
The Standing Committee
of National Board of Wildlife of
the Union Environment
Ministry in a recent meeting
also allowed the State forest
officials to use a portion of the
18 lakh quintals of wood from
the 20-lakh damaged trees at a
crematorium at Swargadwar,
Puri and households situated
around the wildlife habitat
besides the temple.
As per provision of Section
29 of Wildlife (Protection) Act,
1972, salvaged firewood will be
handedover among 6355
households situated around
the sanctuary for their bonafide
needs as per the estimation of
total requirement of firewood
per annum made by the DFO,
Puri(Wildl Life ) Division.
Surplus firewood, if any,
after distribution among the
EDC members, was proposed
to be supplied to Swargadwar,
Puri for cremation purpose
and to the kitchen of Lord
Jagannath Temple through the
Odisha Forest Development
Corporation on payment of
royalty.
At a meeting held here, the
Board members agreed for
removal of FANI
uprooted/damaged trees from
the sanctuary after the State
Government expressed appre-
hension that they were not only
fire hazardous but also hinder
movement of wild animals.
It pointed out that they
need to be cleared to create
space for re-afforestion, mead-
ow development and for free
movement of protection staff
and rescue teams.
The extremely severe
cyclonic storm that ravaged
Odisha on May 3 last year had
severe impact on Balukhand-
Konark Wildlife Sanctuary
where a large number of trees
were uprooted and damaged.
However, the Board mem-
bers rejected the State
Government’s proposal to sell
the salvaged firewood in open
market through the ODFC.
The Board said that the
royalty amount so realized
shall be utilized for cleaning of
sanctuary area and other devel-
opmental works in the sanctu-
ary. The State has also been
asked to prepare a scheme for
undertaking post FANI reha-
bilitation works in the sanctu-
ary in conformity with the
Sanctuary Management Plan.
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In a significant policy deci-
sion, the Ministry of Micro,
Small and Medium Enterprises
(MSME), headed by Union
Minister Nitin Gadkari, has
done away with the role of
District Collectors in recom-
mending the proposals under
the Prime Minister
Employment Generation
Program (PMEGP), thereby
simplifying the entire proce-
dure.
As per the amended guide-
lines, Khadi and Village
Industries Commission
(KVIC), the nodal agency for
implementing PMEGP
scheme, after due diligence, will
directly clear the
proposals/applications of the
prospective entrepreneurs and
will forward it to the Banks for
taking credit decisions. As of
now, the proposals were scru-
tinized by the District Level
Task Force Committee
(DLTFC) that often led to
inordinate delays in sanction-
ing of the projects.
KVIC Chairman Vinai
Kumar Saxena said a major
bottleneck has been removed
with the discontinuation of
the DLTFC in approving the
projects under PMEGP. He
thanked Gadkari for taking
swift action in the interest of
the country.
The government’s move has
come at a time when the
employment sector has taken a
hit due to nationwide lock-
down in the wake of the Corona
disease. The amendment in the
policy would pave the way for
swift implementation of projects
and create new employment
opportunities in rural and semi
urban areas under the PMEGP
scheme.
The District
Collectors/Magistrates heading
the DLTFC were often preoc-
cupied with local administrative
issues and hence deciding on
granting approval of PMEGP
applications was not on their
priority list and prroposals
under the scheme remained
pending for several months.
“We are grateful that the
Hon’ble Minister accepted our
request and decided to discon-
tinue the role of DLTFC. This
will ensure swift and timely
implementation of the projects.
The government’s decision will
safeguard the interest of lakhs of
people in the country seeking
employment opportunities
under PMEGP.,” Saxena said.
As per the new guidelines,
the KVIC after receiving the
applications will scrutinize and
examine the proposals and the
corrected applications will be
forwarded to the banks for tak-
ing credit decisions. Under the
PMEGP scheme, loans up to Rs
25 lakhs are given for manu-
facturing and service indus-
tries, in which 15 to 35% sub-
sidy is provided by the KVIC
depending upon the area.
Since its launch in 2008, the
PMEGP scheme was receiving
an average of 35,000 applica-
tions per year. However, KVIC
in 2016 developed an in house,
user-friendly PMEGP portal
and launched it in July 2016 to
receive online applications
under the scheme. The online
facility received massive public
response and the number of
online applications increased
manifolds up to four lakh appli-
cations per year, which itself
shows the popularity of the
scheme.
In 2019-20, the KVIC
released over Rs 1951 crore
margin money subsidy and set
up 66,653 projects in the coun-
try.
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The Supreme Court Friday
granted protection to
activist lawyer Prashant
Bhushan from any coercive
action in an FIR lodged
against him at Rajkot in
Gujarat for allegedly hurting
religious sentiments of the
Hindus.
The FIR was lodged by
former Army personnel
Jaidev Rajat Rajkot alleging
that Bhushan hurt religious
sentiments of Hindus by
tweeting against re-telecast of
the Ramayana and the
Mahabharata.
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