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Odisha Extends Lockdown: Know What’s Allowed, What’s Not

News Highlights

  • Odisha extends lockdown till June 1
  • Along with the lockdown, the weekend shutdown will be remain in force

Cuttack: The Odisha government on Tuesday announced an extension of the ongoing lockdown restrictions in the State till June 1 in order to break the rising tide of Covid-19 cases.

According to a notification issued by the State government, along with the lockdown, the weekend shutdown will be remain in force in the weekends starting from 6 pm of Fridays to 5 am on Mondays.

Here are the list of services that will be remain operational during the restriction period:

Vaccination: During this period, vaccination shall continue in places as notified by H&FW Department from time to time. Eligible persons, as advised by the Department shall travel to the Covid Vaccination Centres (CVC) on the, own. Such person(s) shall be allowed to travel to the designated CVCs in the, vehicles/ taxis/ auto rickshaws by following guidelines to that effect. H&FW Department/ District Collectors/ Municipal Commissioners may facilitate alternative ways through Call Centres/ IT solutions to ensure that such persons smoothly travel to and from the CVCs.

Testing: Persons desirous of/ required to undertake testing for Covid-19 shall be allowed to travel to designated Government/ Private Covid-19 Testing Centres in their vehicles/ taxis/ auto rickshaws by following guidelines to that effect. H&FW Department / District Collectors/ Municipal Commissioners may facilitate alternative ways through Call Centres/ IT solutions to ensure that such persons smoothly travel to and from the CVCs, if required by obtaining passes from appropriate authorities, preferably through electronic means.

All health services to remain operation during the lockdown and weekend shutdown

Financial Sector

i. Reserve Bank A India (RBI) and RBI regulated financial markets and entities like NPCI. CCIL, payment system operators, Clearing Houses and standalone primary dealers.

ii. Bank branches and ATMs. IT vendors for banking operations, Banking Correspondents (BCs). ATM operation and cash management agencies. However, Banks shall operate as per guidelines to be issued by Finance Department vide Letter No. 12822 dated 26.04.2021. However door step/ online banking may be promoted. Wherever physical banking is required such services may be extended to the extent possible in special areas with adequate ventilation and frequent sanitisation.

iii. SEBI, and capital and debt market services as notified by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)

iv. IRDA1 and Insurance companies.

v. Non-Banking Financial Institutions (NBFCs) including Housing Finance Company (HFCs) and Micro Finance Institutions (NBFC-MFIs) with bare minimum staff.

vi. Co-operative Credit Societies

Public Utilities: 

i. Railway, Airport, Sea Port operations etc. shall continue as per Government of India Guidelines.

ii. Operations of Oil and Gas sector, including refining, transport.., distribution, storage and retail of products, e.g., petrol, diesel, kerosene. CNG. LPG, PNG etc.

iii. Generation, transmission and distribution of power at State level.

iv. Postal services, including post offices.

v. Operations of utilities in water, sanitation and waste management sectors, at municipal/ local body levels in State. Operation of utilities, including movement of vehicles and personnel, providing telecommunications, DTH and Internet services, including maintenance of telecom towers and recharge facilities for prepaid mobile connection. Efforts shall be made to provide on-line services rather than phyisical services

Commercial and private establishments:

i. Shops, including ration shops (under PDS) and neighbourhood/ roadside/ street corner shops, dealing with food. groceries. fruits and vegetables, dairy and milk booths, meat and fish, animal feed 8, fodder. seeds, fertilizers and pesticides including their transportation. warehousing and related activities. However, district authorities may encourage and facilitate home delivery to minimise the movement of individuals outside their homes.

Street corner / road-side shops / stand-alone shops dealing with food and essential items. vegetables. fish. meat. and eggs and milk are allowed to operate on weekdays (Monday to Friday) between 7AM to 11AM. Such shops shall maintain a minimum 30 feet shop to shop distance. The shopkeepers and the buyers shall mandatorily abide by the Covid safety protocols like social distancing, use of mask.The local authorities shall demarcate areas for this purpose. The Collectors/ Municipal Commissioners shall make all efforts to disperse the vegetable vendors in such a manner that no person is required to travel more than 0.5 km for purchase of vegetables. Any violation of COVID-19 protocols will attract closure/ sealing/ cancellation of license of the concerned shops.

However, weekly and daily haats shall be prohibited.

ii. Restaurants and dhabas for Takeaway and Home delivery only

iii. Home delivery by operators/ online delivery of all goods/ services by e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart, Blue Dart. DTDC, Big Basket. Grofers, Urban Clap, 2omato. Myntra. Swiggy, KFC. Pizza Hut. Dominos. Uber Eats, etc.

iv. Retailers of food 8. grocery items such as Big Bazaar, Reliance Fresh. OMFED, OPOLFED, Chilika Fresh, Spencers, etc. They are also allowed to provide home delivery services.

v. Print, electronic and Web media (Members of media may have to produce authorisation from their appropriate authorities specifically showing their areas of movement.

vi. IT and IT enabled Services (ITeS) with a maximum 11 20% staff • (as far as possible to work from home). vii. Data and Call Centres with bare minimum staff.

viii. Telecommunications, internet services, broadcasting and cable services/ DTH and optical fibre (on-line, virtual services shall be encouraged t b provided to consumers.)

ix. Petrol pumps, LPG, Petroleum and gas retail and storage outlets along with home delivery.

x. Power generation. transmission and distribution units and services.

xi. Government approved Common Service Centres (CSCs) at Gram Panchayat level.

xii. Cold storage and warehousing services, including at ports, airports, railway stations, container Depots. individual units and other links in the logistics chain.Private security services and facilities management services for maintenance. and upkeep of office and residential complexes.

xiii. Hotels, home stays, Lodges and motels, which are accommodating tourists and persons stranded due to lockdown, medical and emergency staff. air and sea crew.

xiv. Establishments used/ earmarked for quarantine facilities.

xv. Services provided by self-employed persons, e.g.. Electrician, IT repairs, plumbers, motor mechanics, and carpenters etc.

xvi. Shops that repair and service electrical and electronic appliances including fans. air coolers, water purifiers, air conditioners. mobile phones, computers. accessories

xvii. Shops dealing in construction equipment and supplies such as cement. iron rods, chips etc with provision of home delivery of all construction goods..

xviii. Shops of educational books for students.

xix. Newspaper Delivery will be allowed between 5AM to 8AM.

xx. OMFED shops/ Milk booths dealing with milk/ milk products/ Bread are allowed to operate between 7AM and 11 AM. Such shops shall not sale tea/coffee/soft drinks etc However , home delivery of milk/ milk products/ bread will be allowed in other times.

Transportation

Public transportation by buses (inter-state and intra-state) will remain suspended till May 19, 2021. However, movement, loading and unloading of goods and cargos including transportation (inter-state and intra-state) of all goods is allowed.

During the lockdown period, the following activities will remain prohibited: 

i. Buses for public transport

ii. Intra-State movement of individuals by road, except for medical reasons or for activities permitted under these guidelines

iii. All educational, training, coaching institutions, etc., except as allowed by Government. However, physical conduct of examinations by state/ national/ international bodies shall be allowed on a case to case basis by the respective Departments with due intimation to all concerned authorities

iv. Exhibitions/ Trade Fairs/ Melas/ physical Business to Business meetings are prohibited. However, such activities may be taken up in virtual mode.

v. Taxis (including auto rickshaws and cycle rickshaws) and services of cab aggregators (except as specified in subsequent paragraphs of this order)

vi. All cinema halls, malls. market complexes, gymnasiums, sports complexes, swimming pools, entertainment parks, theatres, parks, bars and auditoriums, assembly halls, Merry-go-round (Doli)/ Mecca bazaar and related activities and similar places

vii. Jatra/ opera/ open air theatres shall not be allowed to operate

viii. All salons/ barber shop, spa, beauty parlour etc. shall remain prohibited

ix. All social/ political/ sports/ entertainment/ academic/ cultural/ religious functions/ other gatherings

x. All religious places/ places of worship shall be closed for public. However religious rituals are allowed with bare minimum priests/ servitors and staff. Religious congregations are strictly prohibited

xi. Marriages shall be permitted, with approval from local authorities, with not more than 25 persons and in case of Thread Ceremony/ Bratopanayan, funerals and last rites, the number of persons participating shall not be more than 20 (for the entire event) including hosts, guests, priests and catering and other support staff with adherence of COVID-19 safety protocols. In case of all these functions, no community feast shall be organised nor any food shall be served in the venue. Only take away food shall be allowed to the guests.

xii. Indoor & outdoor film shooting/ TV serial related shooting shall not be allowed.

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