Identifying 11 districts in four states where lockdown violations are taking place in major hotspot districts, the Centre has deputed six Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCTs) to make on-the-spot assessment on the compliance and implementation of lockdown measures and issue necessary directives to state government authorities.
Of these six IMCTs, two each are for West Bengal and Maharashtra and one each for Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
The Centre has said that the situation relating to lockdown violations is specially serious in Indore (MP), Mumbai and Pune (Maharashtra), Jaipur (Rajasthan) and Kolkata, Howrah, Medinipur East, 24 Parganas North, Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Jalpaiguri in West Bengal.
“After analyzing the prevalence of such violations in major hotspot districts, it is clear to the Central Government that the situation is especially serious in the above mentioned areas and expertise of the Centre need to be used,” the Ministry of Home Affairs said today.
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Set-up under the Disaster Management Act 2005, these IMCTs will focus on complaints of implementation of lockdown measures as per guidelines. They will also focus on issues like the supply of essential commodities, social distancing in movement of people outside their homes, preparedness of the health infrastructure, hospital facility and sample statistics in the District, safety of health professionals, availability of test kits, PPEs, masks and other safety equipment, and conditions of the relief camps for labour and poor people, the government said.
The Centre has said that if the incidents of violations are allowed to occur without any restraining measures in hotspot districts or emerging hotspots or even places where large outbreaks or clusters may be expected, it will pose a serious health hazard, both for the population of these districts and for those living in other areas of the country.
The Centre, meanwhile, has reiterated that while state governments can impose stricter measures than contemplated in the lockdown guidelines given by the Centre, they shall not dilute these guidelines.