State-wise variations in new rules leave citizens puzzled

Lack of uniformity in norms governing workplaces, public transport, marketplaces, shops a conundrum

NEW DELHI: Can you go to office? Can you drive your car across to the next state, or the next city? Can you take public transport? Can you even get a haircut?

On March 25, the day India imposed the lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease, the answer to all these questions was a resounding no. There was one rule, and all citizens had to abide by the restrictions.

Today, even as lockdown 4.0 has got officially extended to May 31, the answer to the questions is — depends; depends on where you are and which state jurisdiction has adopted what rules.

So if you are in Delhi, you can’t get a hair cut and will have to live with that long beard or unkempt look for some more time, but if you are in Thiruvananthapuram, you can walk into a salon. If you are in Gurugram or Noida, you can drive down to Delhi — but if you are in Delhi, you may not be able drive back to Gurugram or Noida. If you are in Bengaluru, you can work in office at full capacity. But if you have an office in Mumbai, your office can only have one-third of the staff. If you are in Kolkata and need to take a quick auto ride with your spouse, both of you can hop in to one auto rickshaw. But if you are in Delhi, both of you will have to take two separate autos.

This, often bewildering, set of rules symbolises lockdown 4.0. Advocates say it is a better reflection of local realities, with states now having the power to decide zones and extent of activity in each area; others believe that this creates confusion for individuals, companies, and even local government authorities.

Take companies. A company’s office in Delhi or Bengaluru may have started functioning from Tuesday but its office in Mumbai has remained closed, due to the lockdown. Maharashtra government has decided to enforce lockdown 3.0 regulations in Mumbai, in which only 33% of workers are allowed in non-containment areas. Eighteen of the 27 municipal corporations in the state, including all in and around Mumbai, are in the red zone.

“It (restrictions in Mumbai) has created some functional problems for us, as our head office is in Mumbai,” said a Bengaluru-based systems analyst, Srinivasa Murthy, working with a multinational information technology company. Most companies had to introduce city-specific working protocols as lockdown norms are not same in all cities. “It has added to our work but we have to deal with it,” commented an HR manager in a second Bengaluru-based IT company, requesting anonymity. Or take public transport. After 56 days, public transport — buses, cabs and auto rickshaws — returned to many cities, with different city norms. In Kolkata, only 20 passengers per bus are allowed. In Bengaluru, buses can run up to half of its capacity. Autos in Bengal can carry two passengers and in Delhi only one.

But the ease in curbs has often not translated into passengers, for there appears to be caution. Or take inter-state travel. While Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana governments have allowed inter-state travel, the administrations in Noida and Gurugram have prohibited it. In Maharashtra, even inter-district travel is difficult. There is an even bigger issue with long-distance travel, with citizens at a loss in the absence of clarity. KC Jain, a cancer survivor, living in Vishal

Khand area of Lucknow, wanted to drive down to Jodhpur to bring his wife back. He applied for an e-pass, which was rejected. “My wife is stuck in Rajasthan for nearly two months,” he said.

Kerala and Punjab have allowed barber shops. Delhi and Mumbai have not. Uttarakhand and Rajasthan have come up with strict conditions — only one person is to be allowed inside a barber shop at a time and there must be proper provision of masks, sanitisers and thermal scanners.

UP and MP will allow salons and barber shops from Thursday.

And the experience of a hair cut itself has changed, for both the customer and the barber. Joseph Mathew walked into a salon in Thiruvananthapuram carrying his own towel, for a haircut, his first during the lockdown, and was surprised to find his barber was covered from head to toe in a protective gear. “I never imagined such a scene,” he said, as two customers got their hair done in distant corners.