United News of India
New Delhi, Apr 21: In response to queries coming in, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Tuesday clarified about certain services which have been exempted from the consolidated guidelines for lockdown in wake of COVID-19 outbreak
According to the clarification, certain services such as bedside attendants and caregivers of senior citizens, charging facilities for prepaid mobile and food processing in urban areas have kept out of the lockdown ambit.
In a letter written to all Chief Secretaries of states on Tuesday, the Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla said that as per the Home Ministry orders on April 16 and 19, apart from caregiving services for senior citizens and mobile recharge, the food processing units such as bread factories, milk processing plants, flour mills, pulse millslocated in urban areas have also been kept free from the lockdown measures.
The letter also reiterated that the ‘National COVID19 Directives’ and ‘Standard Operative Procedure’ for social distancing for offices, workplaces, factories and establishments must be ensures.
The Chief Secretaries have been advised to inform the district authorities and field agencies about these exemptions accordingly to avoid ambiguity at the ground level.
