Opening of shops: Jharkhand govt asks DCs to assess situation

The Jharkhand government has asked the deputy commissioners (DCs) of all the 24 districts to assess the local conditions before taking a decision on opening shops during the lockdown in accordance with a latest Union home ministry notification, sources said on Saturday.

"We have received the central guidelines on relaxations and asked the DCs to assess local conditions before taking a decision," a highly-placed source in the Hemant Soren government said.

As of now, the shops selling essential commodities are functioning, he added.

Meanwhile, state Finance Minister Rameshwar Oraon said the ongoing lockdown has helped contain the novel coronavirus to a large extent and an assessment of the situation would be made before announcing any relaxation.

"The lockdown has helped contain the virus to a large extent. So, before giving any relaxation, the state government will assess which shops should be opened, where social distancing could be maintained," he told reporters.

A total of 63 persons were detected as COVID-19 positive in Jharkhand since the first case surfaced in the state on March 31, when a 22-year-old Malaysian women tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Ranchi.

The Malaysian woman has recovered and was discharged from a hospital on Friday.

Pointing out that the new guidelines of the Union home ministry have allowed the state governments to relax certain lockdown norms, Oraon said it was necessary to maintain social distancing to contain the virus and hence, the state government had imposed the lockdown on March 22.

He also said talks were on with other states regarding bringing back students stranded across the country.

A team of senior officials of the state government is conducting the talks. Apart from students, efforts are also on to bring back the labourers stranded outside the state and provide them assistance through the respective states, the minister said.

The Jharkhand government, he added, is also lending help to the labourers and an amount of Rs 1,000 is being transferred to their accounts through the Chief Minister's Assistance mobile application.

He urged such people to register their details with the state government by April 29.