UP relaxes lockdown from June 1 except in 20 districts where active cases above 600
Lucknow, May 30: The Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday relaxed the COVID-19 lockdown from June 1 allowing shops and markets outside containment zones to open for five days a week, but it would not be implemented for now in 20 districts where active cases are over 600.
Once the tally of active COVID-19 cases in these districts falls below 600, relaxation will be implemented there, said Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary R K Tiwari.
The 20 districts where there would be no relaxation yet are Meerut, Lucknow, Saharanpur, Varanasi, Ghaziabad, Gorakhpur, Muzaffarnagar, Bareilly, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Bulandshahr, Jhansi, Prayagraj, Lakhimpur-Khiri, Sonbhadra, Jaunpur, Baghpat, Moradabad, Ghazipur, Bijnor and Deoria.
For the rest of the 55 districts, shops and markets outside containment zones will be allowed to remain open 7 am to 7 pm from Mondays to Fridays from June 1, Tiwari said in a government statement.
Eateries on highways and vendors will be allowed to operate, according to the statement.
It also said night curfew will remain in place from 7 pm to 7 am and weekend restrictions or "corona curfew" will be there on Saturdays and Sundays.
Instructions were issued that during weekend restrictions, cleanliness, sanitisation and fogging campaigns will be carried out.
Shopkeepers and their employees will have to wear masks, maintain a two-yard distance and ensure the arrangement of sanitiser. This rule will also be applicable for the customers, it said.
While there would be full attendance for frontline workers, for the rest of the government officers, there would be 50 per cent attendance with employees being called in a rotational manner. COVID helpdesk must be established at all the offices.
The private sector has been asked to encourage the employees to work from home.
According to the statement, industrial units will stay open while vegetable markets in the densely populated areas will function in open areas.
At railway stations, airport and bus stand all the COVID protocols have to be followed, screening of passengers and antigen tests have to be conducted and then sent to hospitals. Buses of the UP Roadways have been allowed to operate within the state with passengers according to seating capacity, it said.
Schools, colleges and educational institutes will remain closed while teachers and other staff have been allowed to come to the school for administrative work.
Barring the containment zones, not more than five devotees will be allowed inside the religious places at a time. Coaching centres, cinema halls, gyms, swimming pools, clubs and shopping malls will remain completely closed, the statement said.
A maximum of 20 persons will be allowed in a funeral procession, it said.
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Sujit Nair raises concerns over speculation of DMK-AIADMK understanding to block TVK
Chennai: Journalist and political commentator Sujit Nair has expressed concern over speculation that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam could explore a post-poll understanding to prevent Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam from forming the government in Tamil Nadu.
In a social media post, Sujit Nair said the election verdict in Tamil Nadu reflected a clear public demand for political change and argued that the mandate should be respected irrespective of political preferences.
Referring to reports and political discussions surrounding a possible understanding between the DMK and AIADMK, he said he hoped such developments remained only speculative conversations and did not turn into reality.
Nair stated that if such an alliance were to take shape, it would raise serious questions about ideological politics in the country. He said TVK had emerged through a democratic electoral process and that the legitimacy to govern in a parliamentary democracy comes from the people’s verdict.
According to him, attempts to prevent an electoral winner from forming the government through unexpected political arrangements may be constitutionally valid, but many people could view them as politically opportunistic.
He further said that such a move could particularly affect the political image of the DMK, which has historically projected itself around ideology, social justice and opposition politics. Nair said that in ideological terms, the DMK appeared closer to TVK than to the AIADMK, and joining hands with its long-time political rival only to remain in power could weaken its broader political narrative.
He added that the same questions would apply to the AIADMK as well, as the party had spent decades positioning itself against the DMK and such an arrangement could create discomfort among its cadre and supporters.
Drawing a comparison with Maharashtra politics in 2019, Nair said he had expressed similar views when the Shiv Sena formed an alliance with the Indian National Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party after the Assembly elections.
He said post-poll alliances between long-standing political rivals often create a public perception that ideology and electoral mandates become secondary when political power equations come into play.
Nair also said such developments increase public cynicism towards politics and reinforce the belief among voters that ideology is often sidelined after elections.
He maintained that the Tamil Nadu verdict was emphatic and said respecting both the spirit and substance of the mandate was important for the credibility of democratic politics.
