Kerala violates lockdown, opens restaurants & allows travel: Centre issues strict letter

April 20: The central government has written a strict letter to Kerala wherein it has pointed out that the state has violated the nationwide lockdown guidelines as it has allowed opening of activities which were prohibited under Consolidated Revised Guidelines during extended lockdown.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has asked the state government to “rectify” its directions that included allowing bus travel and opening of barber shops and restaurants, saying they were “dilution” and “violation” of its April 15 lockdown guidelines. This amounts to “dilution” of guidelines and “violation” of the MHA order issued on April 15 under the Disaster Management Act 2005, Bhalla said in the letter. “I would urge you to rectify the guidelines of the Government of Kerala in line with the consolidated revised guidelines dated April 15, 2020, and April 16, 2020, without any dilution to ensure strict compliance of lockdown measures,” Bhalla said.

#CoronaVirusUpdate
MHA urges States/UTs to ensure strict compliance & implementation of revised consolidated guidelines on #Lockdown2 measures, w/o any dilution, to fight #COVID19.

Centre has observed certain States/UTs allowing activities not permitted under MHA guidelines. pic.twitter.com/7ikFnnidsA

— Spokesperson, Ministry of Home Affairs (@PIBHomeAffairs) April 20, 2020

Citing the observations Supreme Court made on March 31 that it trusts state governments and citizens will “faithfully comply” with the directives of the Centre, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla said in a letter to Kerala on Sunday that this should be treated as “directions” of the apex court. Kerala was to kick in relaxations from Monday in seven out of 14 districts after grading them into Red, Orange-A, Orange-B and Green zones.

On April 17, Bhalla said, the Kerala government circulated the guidelines among District Collectors and Superintendents of Police among others, which allowed opening up of local workshops, barber shops, restaurants, book stores, micro, medium and small scale industries in the urban area, bus travel in cities and towns for a distance up to 60 km, two passengers on the back seat of four-wheelers and allowing pillion rider on two-wheelers.

#CoronaVirusUpdate

GoI to Kerala:
GoKerala has allowed opening of activities, prohibited under Consolidated Revised Guidelines on #Lockdown2 measures, issued by MHA on 15.04.2020 to fight #COVID19. @PMOIndia @HMOIndia @MoHFW_INDIA pic.twitter.com/s3I8gFWOjx

— Spokesperson, Ministry of Home Affairs (@PIBHomeAffairs) April 20, 2020

Reacting to the Centre’s letter, state minister Kadakampally Surendran said, “We have given relaxations abiding by directions issued by Centre. The Centre may have asked for an explanation due to some misunderstanding. Once we give an explanation, I hope the issue will be solved. We followed all norms set by the Centre.”