Under Unlock 1, Rajasthan will not allow religious places to reopen

Rajasthan will not open religious places till June 30 despite the Centre’s new guidelines which allowed places of worship and religious places to reopen under Unlock 1.

Under phase-I of unlock, the Centre has allowed reopening of these places from June 8 after a lockdown of more than two months to contain the spread of Covid-19.

On Sunday, the Rajasthan government issued guidelines saying the lockdown for ‘all religious places/ places of worship; metro rail; cinema hall, gym, pools, hotels, restaurants and other hospitality services and eating places (except home deliveries and take away); school and colleges etc’ will continue for the period June 1 to June 30.

However, the state government has permitted functioning of government and private office in full capacity and travelling in private and commercial vehicles in registered capacity of the vehicles.

The movement of individuals, for all non-essential activities, shall remain strictly prohibited between 9 pm to 5 am across the state.

“All government and private offices are permitted to function in full capacity. However, private offices may encourage work from home to the extent possible.”

The government also allowed interstate movement of people and goods and within state as well which means no permit will be required any more.

All commercial passenger transport vehicles such as bus, taxi, cab, auto or cycle rickshaw are permitted ensuring proper sanitization of seats. The passengers travelling in any vehicle (personal or commercial) shall not exceed the permitted seating capacity of the registered vehicle.

However, the city buses will not ply till further orders.

Additional Chief Secretary (Home), Rajeeva Swarup said the prolonged period of lockdown, with gradual relaxations has helped contain the community spread of Covid-19 and saved thousands of lives. But the threat from the virus still continues. These guidelines are based on the principle of cautious resumption of normalcy through adequate precautions and safety measures at work and public places.

Only essential activities will be allowed in containment area where cases have been detected in recent past. No relaxation in guidelines within the containment areas of hotspots and curfew areas.

All shops can open, ensuring strict implementation of the guidelines. The government also allowed selling of food items through shops/stalls/thelas/ kiosks, including tea, juice, chaat etc, ensuring no gathering of people, social distancing, hygiene and garbage disposal.