LD-02: List of activities that will be allowed from 20th April

The Ministry of Home Affairs in its revised lockdown guidelines allowed several services to remain operational from April 20. The MHA said in its directive ‘to mitigate hardship to the public‘, select additional activities have been allowed which will come into effect from 20 April 2020.

These limited exemptions will be operationalized by States, UTs, district administrations based on strict compliance to the existing guidelines.’

Here is the list of activities that will be allowed from 20th April

All health services (including AYUSH) to remain functional, such as

• Hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, medicine facilities
• Dispensaries, chemists, pharmacies,  all kinds of medicine shops including Jan Aushadhi Kendras and medical equipment shops
• Medical laboratories and collection centres
• Pharmaceutical and medical research labs, institutions carrying out COVID-19 related research
• Veterinary hospitals, dispensaries, clinics, pathology labs, sale and supply of vaccine and medicine
• Authorised private establishments, which support the provisioning of essential services, or efforts for containment of COVID-19, including home care providers, diagnostics, supply chain firms serving hospitals
• Manufacturing units of drugs, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, medical oxygen, their packaging material, raw material and intermediates
• Construction of medical health infrastructure including manufacture of ambulances
• Movement (inter and intra State, including by air) of all medical and veterinary personnel. scientists, nurses, para-medical staff, lab technicians, mid-wives and other hospital support services, including ambulances .

Public utilities: following to remain functional

• Operations of Oil and Gas sector, including refining, transportation, distribution, storage and retail of products, e.g., petrol, diesel, kerosene, CNG, LPG. PNG etc
• Generation, transmission and distribution of power at Central and State, UT levels.
• Postal services, including post offices
• Operations of utilities in water, sanitation and waste management sectors, at municipal local body levels in States and UTs
• Operation of utilities providing telecommunications and internet services.

Supply of essential goods is allowed as under

• All facilities in the supply chain of essential goods, whether involved in manufacturing, wholesale or retail of such goods through local stores, large brick and mortar stores or e-Commerce companies should be allowed to operate, ensuring strict social distancing without any restriction on their timing of opening and closure
• Shops (including Kirana and single shops selling essential goods) and carts, including ration shops (under PDS), dealing with food and groceries (for daily use), hygiene items, fruits and vegetables, dairy and milk booths, poultry, meat and fish, animal feed and fodder etc, should be allowed to operate, ensuring strict social distancing without any restriction on their timing of opening and closure
• District authorities may encourage and facilitate home delivery to minimize the movement of individuals outside their homes.

Commercial and private establishments as listed below

• Print and electronic media including broadcasting. DTH and cable services.
• IT and IT enabled Services, with upto 50% strength.
• Data and call centres for Government activities only.
• Government-approved Common Service Centres (CSCs) at Gram Panchayat level.
• E-commerce companies. Vehicles used by e-commerce operators will be allowed to ply with necessary permissions.
• Courier services
• Cold storage and warehousing services, including at ports, airports, railway stations, container Depots, individual units and other links in the logistics chain.
• Private security services and facilities management services for maintenance and upkeep of office and residential complexes.

 Financial Sector- following to remain functional

• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and RBI regulated financial markets and entities like NPCI, CCIL. payment system operators and standalone primary dealers
• Bank branches and ATMs.
•  IT vendors for banking operations, Banking Correspondents (BCs), ATM operation and cash management agencies.
• Bank branches be allowed to work as per normal working hours till disbursal of DBT cash transfers is complete
• Local administration to provide adequate security personnel at bank branches and BCs to maintain social distancing. law and order and staggering of account holders
• SEBI and capital and debt market services as notified by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)
• IRDAI and Insurance companies

Social Sector: following to remain functional

• Operation of homes for children, disabled, mentally challenged, senior citizens, destitute, women
• widows observation homes, aftercare homes and places of safety for juveniles
• Disbursement of social security pensions, e.g.. old age, widow, freedom fighter pensions, pension and provident fund services provided by Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).
• Operation of Anganwadis — distribution of food items and nutrition once in 15 days at the doorsteps of beneficiaries, e.g., children, women and lactating mothers. Beneficiaries will not attend the Anganwadis.

For more information please visit below tweet by Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India

#IndiaFightsCOVID19
MHA issues revised consolidated guidelines on the #Lockdown2 measures to be taken by Ministries/Departments of Govt of India, State/UT governments & State/UT authorities for the containment of #COVID19 in India. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/Q85DFtMAob

— Spokesperson, Ministry of Home Affairs (@PIBHomeAffairs) April 15, 2020