The Rajasthan government on Wednesday revised the curfew timings across the state from 6 pm to 5 am, officials said Wednesday.
Last week, it had announced night curfew in urban areas of ten districts between 8 pm and 6 am, bar Udaipur, where it was between 6 pm and 6 am. Now, a curfew will be in place across the state from 6 pm to 5 am. As per the order, all workplaces, bazaars, and business establishments — bar exempted categories such as IT companies, chemists, bus/railway stations etc — will be shut by 5 pm.
The cap on the number of people attending weddings has been brought down to 50, from 100 persons, while for conducting last rites only 20 persons will be allowed. Also, while the number of people at social, political, entertainment, etc programmes were earlier capped at 100, all such gatherings have now been prohibited.
These and a bunch of other directives issued by the government will be in place between April 16 and April 30.
The decision was taken following Covid review meetings chaired by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot with political parties, religious leaders, and representatives from NGOs, apart from government officials across the state.
In the meeting, the CM said that the government “will persuade people and carry out our responsibility more strictly. This requires essential support by all organisations, religious-social organisations, VIPs and the common man.” He said that with 6,000 positive cases daily in the state and over 161 deaths in April make it clear that this round of infections is bhayavah (horrifying).”
On Wednesday, Rajasthan reported 6,200 new cases, taking the total active cases to 44,905. As many as 29 deaths were also reported, taking the death toll in the state to 3,008.
Gehlot said that during the first wave, people started following health guidelines adequately “which kept us protected in the pandemic. But now when the infection is spreading more quickly, is more lethal and also affecting the young, people have stopped following the Covid protocol and this is a matter of serious concern.”
Among other decisions, restaurants will have to keep the capacity of customers at 50 per cent to prevent overcrowding while take away and home delivery will only be applicable till 8 pm. Also, while Classes 1-9 in public and private schools in urban limits were shut earlier, this will now extend to all educational institutions and libraries across the state, bar nursing and medical colleges. In buses and three wheelers too, the permitted capacity will now be 50 per cent.
RBSE Board exams postponed
Amid rising Covid-19 cases, the state government on Wednesday postponed the Class 10 and 12 Board examinations under the Board of Secondary Education, Ajmer. Moreover, students of Classes 8, 9 and 11 will be promoted. Earlier, the government had announced promotion for students of Classes 1-7. The decision was taken following a meeting between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Education Minister Govind Singh Dotasra. ENS
