Chandigarh March 20: As a precautionary measure to keep a check on the spread of Corona Virus, Haryana Government has decided to impose section 144 of CrPC in both urban as well as rural areas of the State under which gathering of 20 or more people at a place will be restricted. In Gurugram and Faridabad, the permissible gathering shall be upto 5 persons only. Apart from this, on the call made by Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi for observing ‘Janta Curfew' on March 22, 2020, the public transportation in the State would remain suspended from 7 am to 9 pm on that day.
This and several other decisions were taken in a meeting held under the Chairmanship of Chief Minister, Mr Manohar Lal here today to review the steps being taken to check the spread of COVID-19, here today. Deputy Chief Minister, Mr Dushyant Chautala and Health Minister Mr Anil Vij were also present in the meeting. After school and colleges, it has also been decided that coaching centres in the State would be closed upto March 31, 2020.
The Chief Minister urged the government employees to remain alert and available 24x7 in this time of need and said that they have to play a vital role to tackle this pandemic. The role of employees in this situation should help to create awareness among people to take precautions and maintain social distancing, he added. He directed the officers concerned to ensure the availability of adequate stock of essential commodities and assured the people that there would be no shortage of essential commodities.
It was decided that while imposing section 144 of CrPC, the norms of social distancing would also be ensured. It was also decided that the respective General Managers of Haryana Roadways in the districts would be authorized to take decision regarding reducing the frequency of Intra-State and Inter-State public transport depending upon the number of passengers on day to day basis. Though the frequency of buses could be reduced upto 40 per cent, they would also make sure that passengers do not suffer. The City Bus service in Gurugram shall be curtailed till further orders.
The police department would also set up quarantine facilities and isolation wards on the pattern of Health Department. It was also decided that dry ration would be distributed to the beneficiaries of Angwanwadi Centres at their doorstep.
It was informed that bio metric system in all the fair price shops has been suspended for this month and the beneficiaries under the Public Distribution System could take ration without biometric authentication. It was informed that the State has adequate stock of commodities like moong dal, chana dal, rice and wheat floor.
Among those present in the meeting included Chief Secretary Mrs Keshni Anand Arora, Additional Chief Secretary Revenue and Disaster Management Department Mr Dhanpat Singh, Additional Chief Secretary Health and Family Welfare Mr Rajeev Arora, Additional Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Mr V. Umashankar , Additional Chief Secretary Haryana, Medical Education and Research Department Mr Alok Nigam, Additional Chief Secretary Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department Mr P.K Das, DGP Mr Manoj Yadava, ADGP CID Mr Anil Rao, Commissioner, Food and Drugs Administration Mr Ashok Kumar Meena, Mission Director, National Health Mission Mr Prabhjot Singh and other senior officers of the State Government.