In a bid to contain the spread of COVID-19, the Centre has asked all state governments to allow only essential services to operate in 75 districts which have reported confirmed cases or casualties relating to coronavirus.
Here is the list of 75 districts where the government has ordered lockdown and only essential services will be available in these areas.
The 75 districts are spread in 18 states and four union territories. While the whole of Delhi is shut, 10 districts each in Maharashtra and Kerala have been ordered to remain closed and only essential services will be allowed during this period.
In Haryana, five districts will remain closed– Gurugram, Faridabad, Sonepat, Panchkula and Panipat.
While in Uttar Pradesh, five districts will be shut- Ghaziabad, Agra, Varanasi, Lucknow among others.
The government has also decided to suspend all metro rail services till March 31.
Helmed by Cabinet Secretary and Principal Secretary to PrimeMinister, the high-level meeting was attended by Chief Secretaries of all states. During the meeting, the Chief Secretaries underlined the point that there is an overwhelming and spontaneous response to the call of Janata Curfew given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
It was agreed during the meeting that there is an “urgent need to extend the restrictions on the movement of non-essential passenger transport including inter-state buses till March 31.
It was decided that states will issue appropriate orders to allow only essential services to operate in 75 Covid-19 affected districts. The states have been authorised to expand the list depending on a fresh assessment of the situation.
Key takeaways from this top-level meeting:
- All metro rail services suspended till March 31.
- All passenger train services suspended till March 31. Goods trains to operate.
- All inter-state passenger transport suspended till March 31.
- Only essential services to operate in 75 districts with confirmed Covid-19 cases.