News Analysis India

Tag: Punjab weekend lockdown

  • Punjab lifts weekend, night curfew; opens bars, cinema halls

    By Express News Service
    CHANDIGARH: With the state’s Covid-19 positivity rate sliding to 0.4%, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday ordered the lifting of weekend and night curfew, and allowed gatherings of 100 persons indoors and 200 outdoors from Monday.

    At the same time, he directed the Director-General of Police to fine all political leaders violating Covid behavior rules while holding rallies and protest meetings.

    Even as he hoped that better sense will prevail on the political parties and leaders brazenly violating curbs by holding massive protests, he asked DGP Dinkar Gupta to issue challans against those indulging in anti-Covid behaviour.

    While reviewing the Covid situation virtually, Amarinder Singh ordered the opening of bars, cinema halls, restaurants, spas, swimming pools, gyms, malls, sports complexes, museums, zoos, etc., subject to all eligible staff members and visitors having taken at least one dose each of the vaccines.

    Though schools will continue to remain closed, colleges, coaching centres and all other institutions of higher learning will be allowed to open by the Deputy Commissioner concerned, subject to a certificate having been submitted that all teaching, non-teaching staff, and students have been given at least one dose of vaccination, at least two weeks ago.

    The CM said the situation will again be reviewed on July 20. Strict use of masks must be ensured at all times, he directed, while announcing the easing of restrictions.

    Heath Secretary Hussan Lal said four districts had shown positivity of one or less than 1%, but the districts that still needed vigilance were Ludhiana, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Ferozepur, and Ropar.

    Referring to the cases of black fungus, which has been reported in 623 patients as of July 8, the Chief Minister asked the Health Department to work out a proposal for supporting and helping in the treatment of such patients.

    Of the 623 cases, 67 are from outside the state, the Health Secretary informed the meeting, adding that 337 cases were under treatment and 154 had been discharged while 51 patients had died.

    The maximum number of cases reported in a day was 34 on May 27, while the average of daily cases in the first week of July stood at 5.

    (With agency inputs)

  • Farmers protest lockdown in Punjab; shops stay shut despite appeals to defy curbs

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: Despite appeals by farmers who took out protest marches against the weekend lockdown imposed by the state government, shopkeepers in Punjab kept their shops shut on Saturday.

    Punjab’s 32 farmer unions, protesting the Central farm laws, had announced to hold street protests against the lockdown in the state and had urged shopkeepers to defy the restrictions.

    Amid a second wave of COVID-19, farmers took out protest marches at several places, including Moga, Patiala, Amritsar, Ajnala, Nabha, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur and Bathinda.

    Carrying flags of their unions, farmers, including women, took out marches in the markets and appealed to shopkeepers and traders through loudspeakers to open their shops.

    However, the shopkeepers kept their shops closed.

    Police personnel in adequate numbers were deployed across the state in the wake of the protest call by farmers.

    “We told farmers that we will not go against the law and order of the state and whatever the government decides, we will go by that,” said Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal general secretary Sameer Jain.

    Another Ludhiana-based trader, Sunil Mehra, said shopkeepers will continue to raise their voice in a democratic way.

    “How could we open shops when there is a weekend lockdown in the state,” asked Mehra.

    Some traders said the district administrations had also assured them to find ways for the opening of shops dealing in non-essential items next week.

    “We appealed to shopkeepers to open their shops. We told them that we are with them,” said Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan in Moga.

    “The lockdown is not a solution to deal with the COVID-19 crisis,” he said, alleging that shopkeepers were forced to shut their shops.

    Khokrikalan also accused the government of doing nothing to improve the health infrastructure despite being well aware of the second wave of COVID-19.

    Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday had directed the state DGP to strictly enforce the weekend lockdown in the state and deal stringently with any violation in view of the farmers’ call for the protest.

    The state government has imposed extensive COVID-19 curbs in addition to measures like the weekend lockdown and night curfew till May 15.

    In Amritsar, a farmer leader said if the state government wanted to impose a weekend lockdown, then it should give ration to shopkeepers and waive their electricity bills and other taxes.

    A police team took out a flag march in a market in Ajnala with officials saying nobody will be allowed to violate the curbs.

    Earlier this week, shopkeepers in Punjab had held protests against the state government’s order of the closure of shops dealing in non-essential items.

    The chief minister on Friday had authorised the deputy commissioners to take any decision on the opening of shops or private officers on rotation, after taking the local MLAs and other stakeholders into confidence.

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