Ramdas Athawale deplores imposition of new COVID curbs in Maharashtra on Ambedkar Jayanti

On Wednesday, Union Minister Ramdas Athawale slammed the Maharashtra government for imposing stricter COVID-19 curbs in Maharashtra on Ambedkar Jayanti. The new guidelines that came into force from 8 pm on Wednesday shall be applicable till 7 am on May 1. According to Athawale, this move had caused a lot of misconceptions and resentment among people. 

Asserting that Ambedkarites are following all rules to contain the spread of COVID-19, he questioned the MVA government on why it was not possible to apply the fresh curbs from Thursday, April 15 instead. Additionally, he recalled that people had celebrated Ambedkar Jayanti in a simple manner even in 2020 when the country was witnessing the first wave of the novel coronavirus. At present, there are 35,78,160 novel coronavirus cases in Maharashtra out of which 29,05,721 patients have recovered while 58,804 fatalities have been reported. 

New COVID-19 curbs in Maharashtra

• State-wide section 144 has been imposed and night curfew from 8 pm to 7 am
• No one to move in public places without valid reasons, except people in essential services
• All public transport open fully - Autos: driver +2 ; Taxi: driver + 50%, Bus: full seating occupancy only
• All offices to work from home except Central, state and local governments, banks, offices of advocates - but no visitors to such offices
• Private vehicles can ply only for emergency, essential services
• All restaurants, bars shut - only home delivery allowed
• Entertainment places like cine-plex, theatres, Amusement Parks/ Arcades/ Video Game Parlours, water parks, gyms, auditoriums, clubs, swimming pools, sports complexes, shooting for films, beaches, gardens, open spaces all shut
• All shops, malls, shopping centers not performing essential services shut
• No religious, social, cultural, or political functions allowed. District collectors allowed to give permissions for political gatherings where polls are to be held. Attendees capped at 200 or 50% whichever is less.
• E-commerce allowed delivery of essential goods and services
• Newspapers, magazines can be printed and circulated - only home delivery allowed
• Marriages allowed only with 25 people present - all staff to have COVID-ve certificate
• Construction activity allowed on sites where labourers are living onsite