(Image source from: aljazeera.com)

While India completed its first 21-days coronavirus lockdown yesterday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after discussing with the Chief Ministers of the country extended the lockdown till May 03, 2020 to avert the crisis further.

Termed as the Lockdown 2.0, the second extension does come with a few guidelines and leeways that are going to be effective after April 20, in case things don’t get worse in the country.

While the nationwide lockdown being effective from April 15, PM Modi informed that this lockdown till April 20 is going to be extremely strict following which there would be a few loose strings here and there.

Self-employed people including electricians, IT repairs, motor mechanics, plumbers etc. can start their work again after April 20, depending on the state of the spread of the coronavirus.

The Ministry of Home Affairs reported that these self employed workers will only be allowed to work in the non-containment zones as highlighted by the various states and union territories.

This specific decision was taken to ensure that people at least have a meagre source of income in these times of crisis.

The notification that was put out by the Ministry of Home Affairs mentions a list of the essential activities that are going to be operational after April 20 in the non containment zones in the country.

The notification further reported saying, “The permitted activities from April 20, 2020 are aimed at ensuring that agricultural and related activities remain fully functional; the rural economy functions with maximum efficiency; employment opportunities are created for daily wage earners and other members of the labour force; select industrial activities are allowed to resume their operations, with adequate safeguards and mandatory standard operating protocols (SOPs); and the digital economy.”

If you have missed out on that, we thought we’d list them down for you to take a look through the same. Some of the list of the activities included in the notification includes:

1. Construction of the roads and the building projects in the rural areas will be permitted around

2. Goods transportation will be eased without any kind of restrictions; irrespective of essential and non-essential items

3. The agricultural and the horticultural activities will remain completely functional

4. Industries operating in the rural areas will remain operational to ensure that the rural economy is matched up and doesn’t get worse

5. Manufacture and the other industrial establishments that come with access control have been given permits with proper following of the social distancing norms and rules. The same includes manufacturing of the IT hardware and essential goods packaging as well

6. Permits to e-commerce operations, operations of IT and IT enabled devices , call centres for government activities and such under the digital economy will be functional again

7. Health services and the social sector under the revised guidelines will remain operational

8. Supply chain of the essential goods will be happening without any kinds of restrictions

9. Importance state and central government offices with minimal strength is going to remain open

10. MNREGA works will be allowed with strict protocols of social distancing

List of mandatory rules that the employers under this sector have to follow in their work place include:

• Wearing masks is mandatory for own and other people’s safety. Cloth masks are the best option in this case
• Temperature screening of the employees should be done everyday
• Work place should be stocked with sanitisers in all corners for easy access
• Avoid conducting large meetings
• There should not be any kind of shift overlaps. A minimum of 1 hour between shift changes is mandatory
• Employers should advise employees to download and use the Aarogya Setu application
• Workers will either have to stay in the premised of the work building or somewhere nearby
• Transportation facility has to be provided by the employers

India currently has over 11,000 confirmed cases with the death toll at 396.

By Somapika Dutta