15-Day Strict Lockdown in Rajasthan from Today, Markets and Offices to Remain Closed with Exceptions

In view of the steep rise in Covid-19 cases, the Rajasthan government has announced a 15-day lockdown starting from today and will remain till May 3.

The home department, late on Sunday night, issued new guidelines, and the lockdown period has been named as ‘Jan Anushasan Pakhwara’ or Public Discipline Fortnight. All commercial places, markets and offices except those connected with essential services shall remain closed.

Shops connected to grocery, fruit, dairy products, etc. shall remain open till 5 pm. Vegetable vendors have been allowed to sell their stuff by till 7 pm. Petrol pumps shall remain open till 8 pm, as per the new guidelines.

The industrial units will also be allowed to function during the lockdown to prevent the migration of people. The electronic and print media employees will be exempted on showing their identity cards.

People travelling by train, bus or flight will be allowed to move on showing their travel tickets. Public transport shall remain open in the state and factories and manufacturing units shall also remain operational. NREGA projects will also continue to ensure workers get regular jobs.

According to the guidelines, the bazaars, malls, shopping complexes, cinema halls and all religious places shall remain closed. All the educational institutes, coaching centres, libraries, social and political programmes, etc. have also been suspended.

“All commercial offices and markets shall remain closed except the essential services. Commuters from bus stops, metro stations and airports shall have to show tickets to commute, those coming to Rajasthan from other states shall have to show their RT-PCR reports collected within 72 hours of travel.

“For effective control and curb the spread of Covid-19, it has been decided to prohibit various activities across the state under ‘self-discipline fortnight,” Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot sain in a tweet on Monday.

“Pregnant women will be allowed to travel to hospital. Those going to take Covid shots will be permitted and the PDS shops will also run all through the week. Only 50 people will be allowed to attend wedding parties while 20 for a funeral. Telecom, Internet services, postal services, cable services, etc. will remain open”, said the guidelines.

Forty-two more people died from coronavirus in Rajasthan on Sunday as a record 10,514 cases surfaced, the highest so far since the outbreak of the pandemic in the state last year. The infection has killed 3,151 people in Rajasthan, which has reported 4,14,869 infections so far, according to a health bulletin.

With fresh infections, the number of active cases in the state stood at 67,387, the bulletin said. Of the 42 deaths on Sunday, 13 were reported in Kota, seven in Jodhpur, four each in Jaipur and Udaipur, three in Bikaner, two each in Alwar and Churu, one each in Bharatpur, Dausa, Dungarpur, Ganganagar, Nagaur, Rajsamand and Sikar.

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