The Odisha government on Thursday sent a proposal to governor Ganeshi Lal to promulgate an ordinance to make the law governing Covid-19 guidelines more stringent. The proposed ordinance will empower the government to impose a penalty of up to Rs 1 lakh on people violating Covid guidelines.

Additional chief secretary in charge of health, P.K. Mohapatra, told The Telegraph, “A proposal to this effect was passed by the cabinet on Wednesday. As the Assembly is not in session, we forwarded a proposal to the governor on Thursday based on the cabinet’s decision. Once it is signed, the ordinance will be promulgated.”

Sources said under the ordinance, the government will be empowered to impose fines up to Rs 1 lakh on those violating social distancing norms and organising marriage functions in violation of rules.

“We are noticing that people are inviting even 1,000 people for marriage functions. We want to curb such practices. Earlier, the fine was only up to Rs 10,000. We want to enhance the fine in public interest,” said a senior official.

He said a detailed notification will be issued after the ordinance comes into force.

According to the law, a maximum of 50 people can be invited to a marriage function and they need to maintain social distancing norms and wear masks. Last month, a businessman in Berhampur had arranged a marriage function for his son inviting more than 1,000 guests in alleged violation of the norms.

Under the proposed new law, the maximum punishment stipulated for such offences is two years. According to the Epidemic Diseases (Amendment Ordinance) 2020, anybody who disobeys any regulation or order made under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, is liable for imprisonment up to two years. After the new ordinance is promulgated, the violator will be liable for imprisonment up to two years or a fine of Rs 1 lakh or both, sources said.

On the imposition of fine for not wearing masks, Mohapatra said, “We don’t want to follow Jharkhand which has imposed a fine of up to Rs 1 lakh for not wearing masks. In Odisha, the first two violations will attract a fine of Rs 1,000 and any further violation will be punishable with a fine of Rs 5,000. Earlier, this fine ranged between Rs 500 and Rs 1,000. It has already been implemented since August 1,” said the official.

Sources said the government was forced to take the ordinance route to make the regulations stricter as people have been found wilfully disobeying Covid-19 guidelines. “Even the chief minister (Naveen Patnaik) is making repeated pleas to people to observe the laws,” the official said.

Meanwhile, the coronavirus tally in the state reached 52,653 with the detection of 1,981 new cases on Thursday while 314 people have died due to the infection. The state, which plans to conduct 50,000 tests per day, conducted 40,711 tests on Thursday.