The Jharkhand government has clarified that residents leaving their homes for vaccination and other medical emergencies will not require e-pass for their vehicles following concerns raised by many at a time when those above 18 years of age were being immunised against Civid-19.

A notification from the State Transport Department on Monday stated that people traveling within the state for vaccination, medical check-up and hospitalization will be exempted from the e-pass mandate for vehicular movement in Jharkhand. Besides , the notification also clarified that people attending funerals will not require e-oass for their vehicles.

In the fresh set of guidelines for the extended lockdown, the Hemant Soren-led government made it mandatory for people to download e-pass for their vehicles even if they move out of their homes for buying essential goods from May 16 onwards. The e-oass, as per a government notification, could be downloaded from epassJharkhand.nic.in. However, there was no option for vaccine beneficiaries to download e-pass from the portal on Day 1 of the new set of restrictions. Besides, the website kept crashing, giving a tough time to residents on Sunday.

“I had booked a slot for vaccination on Sunday itself, but I did not go to the vaccination centre as a friend was harassed by the police over the lack of an e-pass for his car earlier in the morning,” said Shaurya Sharma, a resident of Kanke Road. “It is a relief that the government has done away with the e-pass mandate for vaccine beneficiaries,” he added.

Meanwhile, a Dhurwa-based resident has moved a PIL in the Jharkhand High Court against the government’s e-pass mandate, claiming that it was confusing and unnecessary. The petitioner, Rajan Kumar Singh, also stated that many Jharkhand residents did not have access to smart phones and could not download e-passes from the government portal.

The notification from the Transport Department on Monday, however, stated that an e-pass will be mandatory for vehicular movement for the purpose of purchasing edible items and other essential goods except for medicines. The e-pass will be valid for a period of three hours from the time of download and it can only be available from 6am to 3pm.

While the active caseload of Covid-19 has reduced in the state, the government is pushing for stricter restrictions in order to avert a rise in cases and a possible third wave.

Meanwhile, the vaccination programme is in full swing with the state managing to inoculate more than 1.11 lakh beneficiaries in the age bracket of 18 to 44 years since May 14.