States, UTs to get more power in lockdown 4.0

new delhi — Greater relaxations and flexibility will be seen in the lockdown 4.0, which will begin on Monday, with gradual reopening of the railways and domestic airlines while powers will be given to States and UTs to define their hotspots, officials said on Friday.

Schools, colleges, malls and cinema halls will not be allowed to open anywhere in the country but salons, barber shops and optical shops may be allowed in red zones, barring Covid-19 containment areas.

There will be lots of relaxations and flexibility in the lockdown 4.0 with complete reopening of the green zones, very limited curb in orange zones and strict restrictions only in the containment areas of red zones, said an official privy to the deliberations in the central government.

However, the final guidelines will be issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs only after going through the suggestions of state governments. The state governments and union territory administrations have been asked to submit their recommendations by Friday.

According to officials, Punjab, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Assam and Telangana wanted the

lockdown to be continued, some of them wanted the powers to decide the zoning of districts — green, orange and red — as per the Covid-19 situation.

This request of the state governments may be accepted so that they can restrict or allow movement of people or economic

activities in a particular place depending on the ground situation, the official said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address to the nation on Monday, had said that the lockdown 4.0 will have a “completely different form”, with new rules. —