A day after Prime Minster Modi announced a national shutdown on Tuesday, 24 March, causing citizens to go into a tizzy hoarding goods and supplies for the next 21 days, there is some reprieve for those living in Karnataka.
Director general of police of Karnataka tweeted on Tuesday evening that supermarkets and grocery stores would remain open all day, indefinitely, so people could purchase food items.
With worried people storming supermarkets and neighbourhood grocery stores late night on Tuesday and the following morning, certain areas began to report a shortage of essential items like water, milk and vegetables on day 1 of the 21 day shutdown.
Certain stores developed their own method to control crowds, by making customers queue up at a distance of 1 metre, allowing only a few in the store at a time, and even offering home deliveries to ensure minimal contact with other buyers.
Passes to be Issued to Delivery Agents, Mediapersons, Medical Workers
The Karnataka police also said in a memo that two kinds of passes would be issued, one for vehicles and one for people, for the following professions/reasons:
- Private security guards
- Petrol, gas, LPG retail employees
- Banks, ATM, Insurance Companies Employees
- Delivery agents of food aggregators, online pharma companies & e-commerce platforms
- Print and electronic media persons
- Staff of ration shops, grocery stores, dairies, meat and fish, animal fodder shops, etc
- Staff of medical establishments such as hospitals, clinics, dispensaries, nursing homes, etc
- Staff of telecom and internet services
- IT and IT enabled services employees
- Employees of power generation, distribution and transmission services
- Staff of capital and debt market services
- Employees of cold storage and warehousing services
- Staff of manufacturing units of essential commodities
- Staff transporting essential goods
- Staff of hotels and lodges having tourists stranded due to COVID-19 & earmarked for quarantine facilities
According to the memo, the passes would be issued from the office of respective DCP law and order after submitting a form.
The memo clarified that passes would NOT be issued to:
- Government vehicles with G registration plate
- Goods vehicles
- Govt dept employees
- High Court employees
The government and high court officials have been asked to mandatorily carry their government ID proofs.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)