As the Telangana Government announced lockdown of the State till March 31 with an aim to stop the spread of Covid-19, several people have taken to social media, wondering whatservices will be shut down and what will remain open.

Invoking the Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897, and some provisions of the Disaster Management Act of 2005, Telangana Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar has issued an Order, giving a detailed list of the services that will be stopped. He has also mentioned the services that will be allowed to be run and operated.

Here goes the list

* All borders with the neighbouring States of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh will be sealed. However, movement of essential and perishable commodities will be allowed.

* All transport, public and private services, including RTC buses, Metro trains, taxis, vans and auto-rickshaws, won’t be permitted to move.

* All inter-State bus and transport services (public and private) will be stopped.

* Those marked for home quarantine must adhere to the set norms. Violations will be penalised.

* All residents to stay home. If need be, only one can go out, excluding the driver.

* No gathering of more than five people allowed in public spaces.

* All shops, commercial establishments, offices, factories, workshops and godowns should shut down operations. Exceptions to units in sectors like pharma.

* Government offices, shops and establishments that are allowed to work should conform to social distancing norms. Markings with three-feet distance should be provided at the check-out counters.

* All academic activities, including valuation of answer sheets, should stop.

* All Anganwadi centres will remain closed.

* All the elective surgeries to be rescheduled to post-shutdown period.

Shops, establishments that are exempted from restrictions

* Banks and ATMs

* Media

* IT, and IT-enabled services, telecom, postal and Internet Service Providers

* Movement of vehicles for transport of essential commodities

* Essential e-commerce service providers

* Shops that sell food, groceries, milk, vegetables, eggs, chicken, meat, fish

* Take-away, home delivery outlets

* Petrol, gas, oil agencies, security services

* airports and related services

* hospitals, optical stores, medical stores, manufacturers, suppliers and others in the supply chain of things required in anti-Covid-19 campaign.

The GO also mandates that key revenue offices, police, health, urban and village local bodies, taxation departments, electricity, water supply, agri and allied services, civil supplies, regulators (pollution, legal metrology, drug control, all Central government offices) should function.

--

K V Kurmanath, Senior Deputy Editor,

The Hindu Business Line,

Begumpet,

Hyderabad 500 016, Telangana.

Twitter: @Kurmanath; @businessline

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