Assam will start economic activities in green zones under strict compliance of ministry of home affairs (MHA) protocols as the Centre has extended the lockdown till May 17 with a slew of fresh guidelines and relaxations. The state government will come up with a comprehensive plan for this after a high-level meeting on Sunday.
The decision to start economic activities follows the state government’s decision to adopt austerity measures to tide over the financial crisis triggered by 80 per cent fall in its revenue collection during the lockdown period.
Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal said, “As our fight against Covid-19 escalates, we are looking at a future where our strategic approach will be focused on the health of every individual, livelihood and self-reliance.”
On Saturday, Sonowal held an interactive session with editors and senior journalists of the state here and sought their views and suggestions on the way forward in case of relaxations and exemptions during the extended period of lockdown.
The chief minister’s office in a statement said, “The state government informed that Rs 4,900 crore is available in the state exchequer in spite of the economic slowdown. The state government has also decided to release the full salary of government employees for the month of June and continue with the regular appointment in government departments.”
Finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “Economic activities will be allowed in green zone areas. However, the detailed plans will be prepared tomorrow after a high-level meeting with the chief minister.”
On Saturday, the state’s excise department allowed Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) “off” shops or the liquor shops in green zone areas to open with strict maintenance of social distancing norms. Immediately after the liquor shops opened, long queues of buyers were seen. According to the state excise department, the state has lost almost Rs 200 crore of revenue already during the lockdown.
The Centre on Friday extended lockdown by two more weeks beyond May 3. Though some relaxations were given to those living in green zone areas, travel by air, rail, and inter-state movement by road will be restricted. However, educational institutions, hotels and restaurants, cinema halls, malls, gyms, sports complexes, social, political, cultural and all kind of gathering, and places of worship for the public are to remain closed.
Movements of people for non-essential services were also prohibited between 7pm and 7am. However, in Assam, the ban on movement of non-essential services would be in force between 6pm and 6am during the extended lockdown.
Assam has not recorded any fresh cases since April 30 and also the report of 158 random tests conducted in Dhubri district have come negative. Joint director of health services, Dhubri, S.M. Emdad Ullah, said, “These tests were conducted in the notified containment zones of the district as a part of the ongoing surveillance to check if Covid-19 has possible spread in the community and the test reports of all the samples have been found negative.”
However, the source of infection of the four cases of Bongaigaon district was yet to be traced.
Altogether 380 stranded people, who came back home from different parts of the state in the past couple of days, have been placed under home quarantine for 28 days in Hailakandi district.
The joint director of health services, Dr Ramesh Chandra Dwivedy, said 126 surveillance teams are working at ground zero.
Of the 254 swab samples in the last three weeks, 245 have turned out to be negative with one Covid-19 death. The results of eight tests are awaited.
Additional reporting by Mukesh Kumar Singh in Dhubri and Satananda Bhattacharjee in Hailakandi