Many Southern states are worried about the labour exodus from their states. Just as they begin to kickstart their economies, the government is facilitating their travels.
Here are the following developments from the Southern part of the country:
1. In a unique move, the Madurai Corporation has started to issue coloured passes to its 2.7 lakh households. The households will be issued Yellow passes (will be permitted to come out on Monday and Thursdays), Pink pass (Tuesday and Friday) and Blue passes (Wednesday and Saturday). No passes will be issued to those in containment zones.
2. The Karnataka government has launched a web portal to facilitate the movement of people from Karnataka to other states and vice-versa. Interested individuals can register themselves at the Sevasindhu portal. However, this does not provide any form of assurance of travel.
Also Read: In lockdown 3.0, liquor shops to open in all zones but with conditions
3. Kerala Excise Minister TP Ramakrishnan has said that no decision has been taken on reopening of liquor shops in the state, which were shut down earlier after the national lockdown was imposed. He said the order issued by the Union Home Ministry is being studied and an appropriate decision will be taken at a later date.
4. The famous Thrissur Pooram festival in Kerala was found missing in its grandeur and the celebrations were a low-key affair with just some rituals being performed. Earlier in April, the State government had banned large gatherings of people following the COVID-19 outbreak.
5. Andhra Pradesh has reported 62 new cases and this has increased its tally to 1525. It has the second highest number of COVID-19 related cases in Southern India after Tamil Nadu.
6. To ease the burden of its residents in Bengaluru, the Karnataka government has appealed to the Centre not to categorise the entire district as a red zone but to rather divide into zones and let the green zones function normally.
7. The Karnataka government, under criticism for its decision to charge the migrants who board the KSRTC buses, has withdrawn these charges and have now stated that only a nominal amount will be charged. The buses shall return empty from the other side back to Bengaluru.
8. The Tamil Nadu Police on Saturday said that the state has reported 3.66 lakh lockdown violations beginning from March 24 and the state government has collected Rs 3.76 crores as fines. They also added that 3,25,851 vehicles were seized and 3,86,509 violators were arrested and then released on bail.
9. With 176 fresh cases being reported on Friday in Chennai, the city continues to be a hotspot not just in Tamil Nadu but also in India.
10. “India has a great opportunity and let’s grab it aggressively”, said Telangana Minister KT Rama Rao while batting for a post COVID-19 economic recovery plan for the state.