14-Day Lockdown In Odisha: Know What's Allowed, What's Not

Bhubaneswar: Odisha will go under complete lockdown from the morning of May 5 till 5 am of May 19 to contain the unprecedented surge in the Covid-19 cases in the State.

The decision was announced by the State chief secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra on Sunday. The State had earlier imposed complete weekend shutdown on Saturdays and Sundays. Prior to that, night curfew was declared in the State from 9 pm to 5 am.

Several restrictions will be imposed on the regular activities across the State with several establishments and units remaining shut during the 14-day lockdown. So, know what will remain open and will be prohibited:

What’s not allowed during the complete lockdown in Odisha:

1. Buses for public transport.
2. Intra-State movement of individuals by road, except for medical reasons or for activities permitted under these guidelines.
3. All educational, training, coaching institutions, etc., except as allowed by Government. However, physical conduct of examinations by state/ national/ international bodies shall be allowed on a case to case basis by the respective Departments with due intimation to all concerned authorities.
4. Exhibitions/ Trade Fairs/ Melas/ physical Business to Business meetings are prohibited. However, such activities may be taken up in virtual mode.
5. Taxis (including auto-rickshaws and cycle rickshaws) and services of cab aggregators (except as specified in subsequent paragraphs of this order).
6. All cinema halls, malls, market complexes, gymnasiums, sports complexes, swimming pools, entertainment parks, theatres, parks, bars and auditoriums, assembly halls, Merry-go-round (Doli) / Meena bazaar and related activities and similar places.
7. Jatra/ opera/ open air theatres shall not be allowed to operate.
8. All salons/ barber shop, spa. beauty parlour etc. shall remain prohibited.
9. All social/ political/ sports/ entertainment/ academic/ cultural/ religious functions/ other gatherings.
10. All religious places/ places of worship shall be closed for public. However religious rituals are allowed with bare minimum priests/ servitors and staff. Religious congregations are strictly prohibited.
11. Marriages shall be permitted. with approval from local authorities, with not more than 50 persons and in case of funerals and last rites. the number of persons participating shall not be more than 20 (for the entire event) including hosts, guests, priests and catering and other support staff. Under no circumstances, the number of participants shall exceed the ceiling for the entire event. Marriage, funeral and last rites related gatherings shall be conducted as per the Government guidelines.

Here’s what’s allowed during the complete lockdown in Odisha:

All health services (including AYUSH) to remain functional, such as:

• Hospitals. nursing homes, clinics, telemedicine facilities.
• Dispensaries, chemists, pharmacies. all kinds of medicine shops including Jan Aushadhi Kendras and medical equipment shops.
• Medical laboratories and collection centres.
• Pharmaceutical and medical research labs, institutions carrying out COVID-19 related research.
• Veterinary Hospitals, dispensaries, clinics. pathology labs, sale and supply of vaccine and medicine.
• Authorised private establishments, which support the provisioning of essential services, or efforts for containment of COVID-19, including home care providers, diagnostics, supply chain firms serving hospitals.
• Manufacturing units of drugs, pharmaceuticals. medical devices, medical oxygen, their packaging material, raw material and intermediates.
• Construction of medical/ health infrastructure including manufacture of ambulances.
• Movement (inter and intra State, including by air) of all medical and veterinary personnel, scientists. nurses. para-medical staff. lab technicians, mid-wives and other hospital support services, including ambulances.

Financial Sector: Following to remain functional:

• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and RBI regulated financial markets and entities like NPCI, CCIL, payment system operators, Clearing Houses and standalone primary dealers.
• Bank branches and ATMs, IT vendors for banking operations, Banking Correspondents (BCs), ATM operation and cash management agencies. However, banks shall operate as per the guidelines to be issued by the Finance Department.
• SEBI, and capital and debt market services as notified by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
• IRDAI and Insurance companies.
• Non-Banking Financial Institutions (NBFCs) including Housing Finance Company (HFCs) and Micro Finance Institutions (NBFC-MFIs) with bare minimum staff.
• Co-operative Credit Societies.

Efforts should be made to operate with minimum staff. Staff should be encouraged to Work from Home (WFH) wherever possible and feasible.

Public Utilities:

• Operations of Oil and Gas sector, including refining, transportation, distribution. storage and retail of products, e.g., petrol, diesel, kerosene, CNG, LPG, PNG etc.
• Generation, transmission and distribution of power at State level.
• Postal services, including post offices.
• Operations of utilities in water, sanitation and waste management sectors, at municipal/ local body levels in State.
• Operation of utilities, including movement of vehicles and personnel, providing telecommunications, DTH and internet services, including maintenance of telecom towers and recharge facilities for prepaid mobile connection.

Commercial and private establishments, as listed below:

• Shops, including ration shops (under PDS) and neighborhood/ roadside/ street corner shops. dealing with food, groceries, fruits and vegetables. dairy and milk booths, meat and fish, animal feed & fodder, seeds, fertilizers and pesticides including their transportation, warehousing and related activities. However, district authorities may encourage and facilitate home delivery to minimize the movement of individuals outside their homes.
  Street corner I road-side shops I stand-alone shops dealing with food and essential items, vegetables, fish, meat. and eggs and milk are allowed to operate on weekdays (Monday to Friday) between 6AM to 12 Noon. Such shops shall maintain a minimum 30 feet shop to shop distance. The shopkeepers and the buyers shall mandatorily abide by the Covid safety protocols like social distancing, use of mask. The local authorities shall demarcate areas for this purpose. The Collectors/ Municipal Commissioners shall make all efforts to disperse the vegetable vendors in such a manner that no person is required to travel more than 0.5 km for purchase of vegetables. Any violation of COVID-19 protocols will attract closure/ sealing/ cancellation of license of the concerned shops. However, weekly and daily haats shall be prohibited.

Explanation: Food and grocery shall mean all items of food and grocery that are usually consumed by people on day to day basis and include. among others, hygiene products such as hand washes, soaps, disinfectants. body wash, shampoos, surface cleaners. detergents, tissue papers. toothpaste, oral care, sanitary pads, diapers, charger and battery cells, etc.

• Restaurants and dhabas for Takeaway and Home delivery only.
• Home delivery by operators/ online delivery of all goods/ services by e-commerce platforms such as Amazon. Flipkart. Blue Dart, DTDC, Big Basket, Grofers, Urban Clap, Zomato Myntra, Swiggy, KFC, Pizza Hut, Dominos, Uber Eats, etc.
• Retailers of food & grocery items such as Big Bazaar. Reliance Fresh, OMFED, OPOLFED, Chilika Fresh. Spencers, etc. They are also allowed to provide home delivery services.
• Print, electronic and Web media.
• IT and IT enabled Services (ITeS) with a maximum of 50% staff ‘ (as far as possible to work from home).
• Data and Call Centers.
• Telecommunications, internet services, broadcasting and cable services/ DTH and optical fibre.
• Petrol pumps. LPG. Petroleum and gas retail and storage outlets.
• Power generation. transmission and distribution units and services.
• Government approved Common Service Centers (CSCs) at Gram Panchayat level.
• Cold storage and warehousing services, including at ports, airports, railway stations. container Depots. individual units and other links in the logistics chain.
• Private security services and facilities management services for maintenance and upkeep of office and residential complexes.
• Hotels, home stays. Lodges and motels, which are accommodating tourists and persons stranded due to lockdown. medical and emergency staff, air and sea crew.
• Establishments used/ earmarked for quarantine facilities.
• Services provided by self-employed persons. e.g.. Electrician, IT repairs, plumbers. motor mechanics, and carpenters etc.
• Shops that repair and service electrical and electronic appliances including fans, air coolers, water purifiers. air conditioners, mobile phones, computers. accessories. etc.
• Shops dealing in construction equipment and supplies such as cement, iron rods. chips etc.
• Shops of educational books for students.
• Newspaper Delivery will be allowed between 5AM to 8AM.

Transportation:

Public transport by buses (inter-state and intra-state) will remain suspended till 19 May, 2021.

Exceptions:

• Movement, loading/ unloading of goods/ cargo (inter and intra State) including transportation of all goods is allowed.
• All goods carriers, whether loaded or unloaded.
• Fire, law and order and ODRAF, and other emergency services.
• Vehicles of Essential Service Agencies such as Municipality! NAC. Power supply, Drinking Water Supply, Sewerage, Telecom (Private and Government) Service and other utility services.
• Government and Private Vehicles used for Emergency and Covid Management f. Inter and intra-state movement of goods/ cargo for inland and exports.
• Cross land border movement of essential goods including petroleum products and LPG, food products, medical supplies.
• Transportation for all medical personnel, nurses, paramedical staff and other hospital support services.
• Transport to and from hospitals within the state. (In special cases, transportation to another state can be allowed with permission of DHS/ Collector/ CDMO! Principal/ Superintendent of Government Medical Colleges.)
• Transportation to and from place of residence to Airports/ Railway Station with Rail/ Air Tickets/ Boarding Passes as evidence of travel along with an accepted Identity Card.
• Private vehicles belonging to persons engaged in organisations/ agencies permitted to operate. Such persons should carry appropriate authorization and ID documents. Private vehicles shall not be allowed for procuring essential commodities. expect as per the orders of Orissa High Court.
• Transport aggregators like OLA cab/ UBER as permitted by C&T (T) Department for transportation of medical personnel/ patients to and from hospitals / persons travelling to and from their place of residence to Covid Vaccination Centres (CVC) and/or Government and Private Covid Testing Centres.
• Garages, vehicle repairing shops shall be allowed to operate.
• All personnel travelling to and from place of work, in the exempted categories, as per the instructions of the concerned authorities, on production of valid identity card.

Social Sector:

• Operation of homes/ Therapy Centres for children/ disabled/ mentally challenged/ senior citizens/ destitutes/ women/ widows including bed side attendant and care givers of senior citizens residing in their homes.
• Observation homes, after care homes and places of safety for juveniles.
• Disbursement of social security pensions, e.g., old age/ widow/ freedom fighter pensions; pension and provident fund services provided by Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).
• Operation of Anganwadis — Distribution of food items and nutntion at the doorsteps of beneficiaries, e.g.. children, women and lactating mothers. Beneficiaries will not attend the Anganwadis.
• Production and marketing by Self Help Groups and activities of Mission Shakti (as decided by Collectors)

Agricultural and related activities:

1. All agricultural and horticultural activities to remain fully functional, such as:

• Farming operations by farmers and farm workers in field viz.: a. Sowing, nursery preparation, land preparation, irrigation, planting, harvesting, threshing, processing and packing, etc.
• All post harvesting activities.
• Seed Growing, Distribution and Sale, including transport of raw seed.
• Seed storage, certification, testing, processing, grading and packing in both Govt. and private sectors.
• Allied industries dealing with packing material, seed treatment, chemical supplies, etc.
• Movement of vehicles involving above activities.
• Excavation of farm ponds and construction of water conservation structures.
• Crop cutting experiments / loss assessment for crop insurance.
• Extension/ demonstration/ developmental and IEC activities in Agriculture and Horticulture sector by all Government Agencies.
• Any other activities incidental to agriculture/ horticulture/ floriculture.
• All activities relating to Kharif Crop Loans by Banks including Odisha State Co-operative Bank, District Cooperative Banks. PACS and LAMPCS.
• All activities relating to procurement of pulses and oil seeds by NAFED / MARKFED and agencies allowed by NAFED.

2. Agencies engaged in procurement of agriculture products and MSP operations including private individuals and traders in vegetable & fruits (horticulture) supply chain & all vehicles carrying agriculture/ horticulture produce and/or products. cold storage, warehousing services and packaging units with their transportation.

3. ‘Mandis’ operated by the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC), RMCs, PACS, LAMPCS, SHGs, Rural Haats or as notified by the State Government (e.g., satellite mandis), direct marketing operations by the State Government or by 71 industry, directly from farmers/ group of farmers, FPOs’ Co-operatives, etc. Decentralized marketing and procurement at village level.

4. Shops of agriculture machinery, its spare parts. storage houses and packaging units by wholesalers/ dealers/ retailers of fertilizers, pesticides, seeds and farm machinery (including its supply chain) and repairs to remain open.

5. ‘Custom Hiring Centres (CHC)7 Agro Service Centres / Workshops/ Shops for repairing and spare parts related to farm machinery.

6. Manufacturing, distribution and retail of fertilizers. pesticides and seeds including shops dealing with fertilizers, pesticides and farm machinery/ equipment, their transportation, warehousing, testing laboratories for seeds, soil, fertilizer and pesticides, etc. and related activities.

7. Movement (inter and intra State) of harvesting and sowing related machines like combined harvester, tractor, power tillers, pump sets, threshers, seed drill and other agriculture/ horticulture implements.

8. Collection, harvesting and processing of Minor Forest Produce (MFP)/ Non Timber Forest Produce (NTFP) by scheduled tribes and other forest dwellers in forest areas.

9. Facilities for export/ import such as pack houses. inspection and treatment facilities for seeds and horticulture produce.

10. Research establishments dealing the agriculture and horticulture activities.

11. Inter and intra State movement of planting materials and honeybee colonies. honey and other beehive products.

Fisheries:

• Operations of the fishing (marine and inland)/ aquaculture industry, including feeding(sea food quality testing laboratories) & maintenance. harvesting, processing including aqua laboratories, clinics packaging, cold chain including ice factories. sale and marketing. Functioning of fishing harbours, fish landing centres. fish auction halls, fish net manufacturing factories. fish net mending sheds and fish drying yards
• Hatcheries, feed plants commercial aquaria.
• Movement of fish/ shrimp and fish products, fish seed/ feed and workers for all these activities.

Plantations:

• • Operations of coffee and rubber plantations, with maximum of 50% workers.
  • Processing, packaging, sale and marketing of tea, coffee, rubber and cashew, with maximum of 50% workers.
  • Bamboo. Coconut. Arecanut. Cocoa, Spices plantation and their harvesting. processing, packaging, sale and marketing.
  • Pre-Plantation & Nursery Activities. Silvicultural operations, Creation and maintenance of water bodies, maintenance of plantations, Kendu leaf operation, Collection, procurement and marketing of NTFPs and MFPs with maximum of 50% workers.