No passes required for vehicles entering, leaving Madhya Pradesh: CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan

As Unlock-1 commences in the country, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced that there will be 'no need for passes for inter-state travel' for vehicles entering or leaving Madhya Pradesh. However, interstate bus services will remain suspended till June 7 across the state, a tweet by the office of the Chief Minister informed.

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Rs 100 per month for electricity bills: CM

In a major relief to the lower and middle class, the Madhya Pradesh CM has also announced that the domestic electricity consumers whose bills came below Rs 100 in April, and between Rs 100-400 in May, June, July, will have to pay only Rs 100 per month for the bills of May, June and July months.

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Places of worship, shopping malls to open from June 8: CM

The chief minister has also declared that places of worship, shopping malls, hotels, and restaurants will open from June 8, outside containment zones, in the state. He further said all educational institutions will remain closed, however, schools will open for holding Class 12 exams. The decision for reopening of schools, colleges, coaching institutions will be taken in the coming days, he added.

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MHA issues guidelines for phase-wise reopening

The string of announcements by Chouhan come in the wake of the new guidelines issued by MHA for phased re-opening of all activities outside containment zones for the next one month beginning June 1. "The guidelines will come into effect from June 1, 2020, and will be effective till June 30, 2020. The current phase of re-opening, Unlock 1, will have an economic focus," said the MHA.

The first phase of the lockdown in the country due to Coronavirus was announced on March 24 for a duration of three weeks. To contain the virus, the government in that phase had only allowed a handful of essential services. The Centre then extended the lockdown till May 3 but eased a few restrictions. As cases increased, the lockdown was further extended till May 17 but the focus was now given to boost the economy that was severely affected.

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(With agency inputs)