Coronavirus / Which pvt establishments will be allowed to operate during extended lockdown?

New Delhi: You cannot go to a multiplex to watch a movie or dine out at a restaurant, but if your house needs some repairs, you can call a plumber or an electrician.

The Union home ministry on Wednesday issued extensive guidelines on permitted commercial and industrial activities as the country entered the first day of the extended nationwide lockdown till May 3.

The guidelines say all “kirana” shops and carts dealing in food and groceries, hygiene items, fruits and vegetables, poultry, meat and fish, and animal feed will be allowed to operate after April 20. In fact, all relaxations, wherever applicable, will come into place after that day.

The government has also allowed e-commerce companies to function. The guidelines state that e-commerce companies and “vehicles used by e-commerce operators will be allowed to ply with necessary permissions”.

Print and electronic media, including broadcasting, DTH and cable services, will continue to operate.

Similarly, services provided by electricians, IT repair personnel, plumbers, motor mechanics and carpenters have been allowed.

But most of these services will only be permitted outside containment areas notified by local administrations.

So, while recreational facilities will be closed, there will also not be any domestic or international air travel, except for evacuating foreign nationals stranded in India or for security purposes.

Buses, metro rail services and inter-state or intra-state movement of ordinary passengers, except doctors, nurses, midwives and security personnel, is prohibited.

All educational, training and coaching institutions will also remain closed. However, these establishments are expected to maintain their academic schedule through online teaching.

Cab services, including Ola and Uber, auto-rickshaw and cycle-rickshaws will not be able to ply, according to the guidelines.

But all medical facilities, including veterinary hospitals, will be open to the public. The detailed guidelines state that hospitals, nursing homes, clinics and tele-medicine facilities will be operational.

The Centre’s pet Jan Aushadi Kendras, along with medical equipment stores, medical laboratories and collection centres, pharmaceutical and medical research laboratories and pathology clinics will be functional.

In a major relief for senior citizens, home care providers have been allowed to function along with diagnostics and medical supply chain firms.

The fisheries and dairy sector will remain fully functional as several concerns were raised over the initial lockdown’s impact on this sector dealing in highly perishable products. The home ministry’s guidelines state that “operation of the fishing, aquaculture, feeding and maintenance, harvesting, processing, packaging and marketing” will be allowed.

Movement of fish, shrimps, fish products, fish seeds and all related activities too have been allowed.

Similarly, a maximum of 50% of the workforce will be allowed in the operations of tea, coffee and rubber plantations. The government has also allowed the sale and marketing of tea, coffee, rubber and cashew nuts with a maximum of 50% of the workforce.

While collection, distribution, processing and sale of milk and milk products have been allowed, the government has allowed the resumption of animal feed manufacturing and operations at animal shelter homes, including “gaushalas”.

Homes for children, mentally challenged people, destitute and women will be allowed just as after-care homes and places of safety for juveniles too have been allowed.

The government has also allowed postal services, including post offices and movement of all goods traffic.