Lockdown 3.0: What is Permitted in Red, Orange & Green Zones?

On Friday (May 1, 2020), The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has extended the nationwide lockdown for two more weeks beyond May 4 in India. The decision to extend the lockdown further was made based on the risk-profiling of various districts all across the country.

The MHA also provided detailed guidelines for controlling the various economic activities in the nation during this time.

According to the order of the MHA, following the classification of red, orange and green zones certain activities will remain prohibited. These activities include:

• Travel by air, rail, metro and inter-state movement by road. Schools, colleges, training/coaching centres and other educational institutions, hospitality services, including hotels and restaurants; places of large public gatherings, such as cinema halls, malls, gymnasiums, sports complexes etc; social, political, cultural and other kinds of gatherings; and, religious places/ places of worship for the public will remain closed and follow the lockdown. Movement of those persons by air, rail and road is allowed for select purposes, and for purposes as permitted by MHA.
• Movement of all individuals, for all nonessential activities, shall remain strictly prohibited between 7 pm to 7 am.
• Irrespective of the zones, persons above 65 years of age, persons with co-morbidities, pregnant women, and children below the age of 10 years, shall stay at home, except for meeting essential requirements and for health purposes
• Out-Patient Departments (OPDs) and Medical clinics will be permitted to operate in all the zones, with social distancing norms and other safety precautions; however, these facilities will not be permitted within the Containment Zones.

The government has also permitted such activities to take place in orange zones, apart from those permitted in red zones:

• As per the guidelines, Taxis and cab aggregators will be allowed to operate only with one driver and one passenger per car in orange zones.
• Further, the inter-district movement of individuals in orange zones will also be allowed for permitted activities.

The other industrial activities permitted are:

• Manufacturing units of essential goods, including drugs, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, their raw material and intermediates will be allowed.
• Production units, which require continuous process, and their supply chain are allowed to operate.
• Manufacturing of IT hardware is allowed to operate.
• Jute industry with staggered shifts and social distancing are allowed to operate
• Manufacturing units of packaging material are allowed to operate.
• Construction activities in urban areas have been limited to in-situ construction are allowed to operate
• Shops in urban areas, for non-essential goods, are not allowed in malls, markets and market complexes but all standalone (single) shops, neighbourhood (colony) shops and shops in residential complexes are permitted to remain open in urban areas, without any distinction of essential and non-essential commodities.
• ECommerce activities, in the Red Zones, are permitted only in respect of essential goods. Private offices can operate with upto 33% strength as per requirement, with the remaining persons working from home.