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Kerala will continue to observe a total lockdown on the weekend, i.e. July 31 and August 1, a protocol that has come to be enforced after the Supreme Court intervened in a related case and strongly disagreed with moves of the State government to allow relaxations in Covid protocols.
The Apex Court had cast severe aspersions on the State government buckling under pressure of the trader’s lobby to allow the relaxations. Earlier on July 17, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had announced a series of concessions at a press conference in view of Bakrid (Eid-ul-Adha).
Apex Court aspersions
The State government’s decision to allow shops to open for a day on July 19 in areas where positivity rate exceeded 15 per cent showed a ‘sorry state of affairs,’ the Apex Court had said. Pressure groups of any kind, religious or otherwise, cannot interfere with the right to life and health of citizens.
The Supreme Court’s observations had come on a petition filed by Delhi-based PKD Nambiar who sought a stay on the State government’s decision. These had forced the latter to go into a huddle and hurriedly pull back a proposal to review the weekend lockdowns, which have continued since then.
Studios may open
A government order said that existing categorisation of local self-government jurisdictions based on average test positivity rate of the previous week will continue. Among relaxations allowed are for photo studios which will be allowed to open in view of NEET exam requirements.
Other shops allowed to open for business are ration shops under the public distribution system, stores selling animal fodder, cattle feed and poultry, grocery stores, food stores, bakeries, stores that sell building material, raw materials, plumbing and electrical equipment for specified duration.
Printing of textbooks
The Prices Section of the Economic and Statistics Department has been included as an essential service for working on all days with required staff, the government order said. It reiterated that shops selling seeds and fertilisers will be permitted in the essential category.
The Kerala Books and Publications Society will be another exemption, which will be allowed to work on Saturday and Sunday for the purpose of printing of textbooks, given the approaching new school year.
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