Essential service providers to be given smooth passage: Hry to HC
nNEWDELHI/CHANDIGARH: The Haryana government has given an undertaking before the Delhi High Court that it would issue e-passes for inter state movement of all those engaged in providing essential services, including medical professionals within 30 minutes of receipt of application. Each e-pass shall be valid for the entire duration of the lockdown and could be used for multiple visits, the state government told the high court.
The submission was made during the hearing of public interest litigation (PIL) by OP Gupta who had moved the court against blanket restriction on movement of people from Delhi to Sonepat were put in place to curb rising coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases. Severe restrictions were also put in place at the Delhi-gurugram border by the Haryana government after it claimed that several cases in Gurugram had their root in Delhi. The curbs on movement of people involved in essential services have now been eased.
A bench of justices Manmohan and Sanjeev Narula said that essential service providers shall not be quarantined unless and until they test positive for Covid-19 or are found in contact with a patient. The bench told Haryana additional advocate general (AAG) Anil Grover that the state government was bound by the undertaking it had given to the court to allow the unhindered movement of essential service providers with e-passes.
Grover assured the high court that the Delhi-haryana border is open and the roads near the border have not been dug up, adding that the state border would be kept open.
Dr Harish Gupta, member of the Delhi Medical Association (Dma)and National Medical council (NMC), said that the order was necessary because several doctors and nurses serving in Delhi live in Gurugram.
“Many doctors, both in the government and private sector, were facing problems since their houses were in Gurugram. Around 100 doctors from the Safdarjund Hospital also reside in Gurugram and were finding it difficult to commute because of the restrictions. So, it was very much required as you cannot stop healthcare workers from performing their duties,”he said.
The Delhi government also welcomed the undertaking by its Haryana counterpart.
“We are glad that the Haryana government has agreed to ensure the unhindered movement of essential staff, for which we were appealing from Day One. Stopping their movement was a violation of the Centre’s orders. This is the time to work together as a nation and fully support our Corona Warriors,” a Delhi government statement read.
nNEWDELHI: The boarding passes of passengers flying out of Delhi airport, once flight operations resume, will be video recorded instead of being stamped by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), a spokesperson said on Thursday.
Senior officers said officers deployed to screen passengers will be given a webcam each to record their boarding passes.
The webcam recording will be synchronised with the CCTV camera footage of the security hold area (SHA) making it easy for the security personnel to track any passenger later if need be, the officers said.
The new method has been adopted following one of the directions from the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) issued Wednesday, asking CISF, the force that secures the airport, to stop stamping the boarding passes as a measure to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
“Our men who are stationed at the security check area, with a stamp, will now be given a webcam each. They’ll record every boarding pass. This is to ensure zero direct contact between passengers and our officers. The recordings will be collected as a database and can be used whenever required,” a senior officer from the airport, who wished not to be named, said.
The officer said that the new method shall cause no additional delay. “However, we are yet to get results. Stamping of boarding passes did not take time and we hope recording, which will only take a few seconds, will also not take much time,” the officer added.
In one of its earlier orders, dated March 19, the BCAS had said, “It is learnt that one of the most common methods of transmission of Covid-19 seems to be through infected surfaces. It is, therefore, desirable to avoid touching surfaces that might be infected due to human touch.”
In the same order issued Wednesday BCAS said passengers are being advised to use hand sanitiser frequently while travelling during the Covid-19 pandemic.