CURRENT SCENARIO OF INDIA TO DEAL WITH CORONAVIRUS

The Author is Astha who is pursuing B.A.LL.B. (Hons.) from Amity Law School. She is currently in 2nd year and has passion for writing and research work.

World Health Organization has declared the Novel Corona Virus (COVID-19) outbreak as a pandemic and has asked the countries affected by it to take immediate necessary actions and scale up response to treat, detect and reduce transmission to save people’s lives. 205 countries out of 288 including India is facing one of its toughest time where the entire country is fighting with this dreadful virus. India’s situation is worsening day by day as number of cases is rapidly increasing. The number of cases India had one week ago been less than 50 and within one week the number has jumped to 396 cases out of which 24 patients have been fully recovered. 23 states and union territories in India are currently affected. India urgently needs some precautions to be taken care of in order to control the cases; there are certain measures which the government has come out with for the safety of the people.  The Prime Minister Narendra Modi appeal the citizen to observe 22^nd March as ‘Janta Curfew’- a stay at home measure from 7:00am to 9:00 pm where people should avoid moving out of their homes except for the emergency purposes. This curfew was seen as a huge success as people showed their full support in order to fight with this alarming situation. There were certain decision which was taken in the high level official meeting attended by chief secretaries of all the states along with the cabinet secretary Pradeep Kumar Sinha and the Prime Minister.

MEASURES/DECISIONS TAKEN BY THE GOVERNEMENT IN ORDER TO CURB THE SITUATION:

·         Many states like Maharashtra which has the highest number of cases, Bihar, Delhi, Rajasthan, Punjab, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Uttarakhand and 80 cities have been completely lockdown.

·         All the people have been requested not to move out of their houses until and unless it’s an emergency.

·         Section 144 has been imposed in certain cities like Delhi, Noida, Chandigarh to avoid gathering.

·         All the train services, including the intercity and local trains have been suspended till 31^st March

·         Metros in Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore have been suspended till 31^st March

·         The essential services like banks, atm, hospitals, will only be functioning.

·         All the private offices are suspended till 31^st March and employee are advised to work from home

·         All the international flights and certain domestic flights have been cancelled till 31^st March. People are advised to avoid traveling in trains and flights.

·         People are also advised to keep up stock of grocery and food items in case of emergency

·         Government has assured that there will be no shortage of food and necessities items in the market and it will also provide food and basic necessities to needy people

·         On Sunday, Indian airline Air India has evacuated 263 Indian students from Italy. All the students have to go through thermal screening and are advised to keep them isolated.

·         All the public transport services like auto rickshaws, taxis, ola cabs and buses have been shut down till 31^st March.

·         Government has assured that wages and salaries of the employees will not be affected due to the emergency shutdown of offices.

STATES DEALING WITH THE SITUATION OF LOCAL DOWN:

1. MAHARASTHRA:

Maharashta became the first state which was lockdown because of the rapid increases in the cases of corona virus. It also has the largest number of cases in India which is 74 cases and 2 deaths. Cities like Mumbai which is the heart of India, Pune Nagpur, Thane, Nashik are majorly affected and has been completely shut down. Local trains, metros and public transport, tiffin service have been suspended. Government has assured that food will be provided to the needy ones. All the government offices as well as the private offices have been shut down till 31^st March. No international flight shall take off or land from Mumbai Airport.

2. KERELA:

Kerela was the first state in India where the first COVID-19 was detected and now is the second largest state with 67 cases out of which 3 patients have fully recovered.

Seven districts in the state have been partially lockdown. All the interstate transport and public transport have been banned. Grocery shops, restaurants, petrol pumps and other essential services will be allowed to be open up to certain restrictions. The Government has issued an order to effectively ban all religious festivals, sports tournament and other mass gathering. Public places like malls, beaches, cinema halls, parks have been shut down. 

3. DELHI:

The capital city of India is also adversely affected by the COVID-19. The lockdown is imposed in Delhi till 31^st March to curb the amid outbreak of corona virus that has infected 27 people in the city state out of which 3 have recovered. All the private offices will be remained closed but employees have to work from home. The private establishments and companies will have to pay full salaries during lockdown, compulsory paid leaves should be provided to both the permanent and contractual employees. Delhi has shut all passenger transport including trains, interstate buses, metros, sealed its border and closed shops, allowing in only the essential items. Section 144 has been imposed across the city banning gathering more than four people. Internationals flights have been cancelled in the capital city. Necessary services will only be functioning in the city. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that the contagious virus would terribly affect the financial system, so the government has taken following decisions as reliefs:

·         Rs 4000-5000 pensions will be paid to 5.8 lakh beneficiaries by 7^th April.

·         Free rations with 50% more quantity than normal entitlement to 72 lakhs beneficiaries

·         Lunch and dinner will be served free to each and every  person at all Delhi government night shelters

·         GST will be waived for those who need to be quarantined and are opting for paid hotel facilities

4. UTTAR PRADESH:

India’s biggest state be it population wise or area wise has also been in the clutch of COVID-19. The state has been lockdown till 31^st March as the number of case registered is 26. Major cities like Lucknow, Kanpur, Muradabad, Gorakhpur etc has been completely shut down. Every public places, food stalls, restaurants have been shut down. Chief Minister  Yogi Aditya Nath has announced that Rs 1000 each will be provided to 15 lakh daily wage labourers and 20.23 lakh construction workers in the state to help them meet their daily needs in the wake of outbreak of this virus. Metros services have been suspended in the state till 31^st March.

Other states like Rajasthan(24 cases), Telangana (22 cases), Karnataka ( 21 cases), Punjab(21 cases), Gujarat( 18 cases), Ladakh( 13 cases), Tamil Nndu (9 cases),  Andhra Pradesh (5 cases), Madhya Pradesh( 5 cases), Uttarakhand (3 cases), Bihar(2 cases) have also been lock down to control the spread of this contagious virus and only essential services are functioning. Cities like Noida, Chandigarh, Lucknow are sanitized on daily basis.