The Assam government on Monday decided to reopen shops in the rural areas of green zone districts from Tuesday and continue to allow one way inter-district movement of stranded people till May 2.

The decisions were taken in a meeting of the council of ministers, chaired by chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal here. “The meeting decided to reopen shops in the rural areas of green zone districts. But ban on markets will continue. Areas with many shops together will be considered as markets,” cabinet minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said after the meeting.

Assam chief secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna later tweeted that the decision regarding shops in urban areas will be taken on May 3. Clarifying the cabinet decision, he said “only standalone” shops in the rural areas would open from Tuesday.

However, if a green zone district shares a border with a red zone district then shops falling within 5km from the border of the red zone would continue to remain closed.

The lockdown will continue as before in the five red zone districts of Dhubri, Goalpara, Nalbari, Morigaon and Golaghat. “Lockdown will be enforced strictly in the red zone districts,” Patowary said.

The decision on reopening shops was taken amid reports that the state government is likely to announce some austerity measures, considering its weakening financial condition.

The government on Monday received a representation from Sadou Asam Karmachari Parishad not to freeze dearness allowances of its employees on the lines of the Centre.

Monday was the last day of the three-day inter-district movement of people in buses arranged by the state government. “Over 41,000 people registered their names to be transported from one district to other. Many have reached their destinations. But we received information from the districts that many people could not register their names. The meeting decided that the inter-district movement will continue till May 2,” he said.

The ministers informed Sonowal about the steps taken by their departments during the lockdown period. Discussions were also held about students stranded in other states but no decision was taken.

Around 3am on Monday, 391 students studying at Kota in Rajasthan arrived here by bus. The students were sent to 14-day quarantine. While the boys were quarantined at Sarusajai Sports Complex, the girls were quarantined in different hotels in the city.

Patowary said the Assam government would not take any decision regarding the lockdown on its own and would go by the Centre’s decision.

Sonowal also announced extension of Covid-19-related insurance coverage to journalists. The insurance with coverage of Rs 50 lakh was first announced for health department officials to encourage them to engage themselves in the fight against Covid-19. It was later extended to government employees engaged in other essential services.