Common man does not have any relaxation during curfew/lockdown: DC Ludhiana

•    INDUSTRIES LOCATED IN RURAL AREAS & FOCAL POINTS ALLOWED TO BE OPENED CONDITIONALLY
•    ANY PERMISSION TO BE GRANTED ONLY AS PER NEW DIRECTIONS OF PUNJAB GOVT
•    NO NEED TO VISIT OFFICES FOR ANY WORK: DEPUTY COMMISSIONER

Ludhiana: Deputy Commissioner Mr Pradeep Kumar Agrawal has clarified that as per the orders of the Union government, the Punjab government has issued directions as per which the common man would not have any relaxations during the ongoing curfew/lockdown. He informed that the Section 144 of CrPC would continue till May 3, 2020.
Mr Agrawal informed that no person is allowed come out of their homes without a pass, whereas the door-to-door supply of essential commodities would continue uninterrupted. He informed that different officials have already been deputed for issuing passes for various activities.
He informed that the industry is being allowed to open only conditionally. He said first of all, the industries in rural areas and focal points would be granted permission to run their businesses. He informed that for securing the permission, the industrialists would have to apply with General Manager District Industries Centre, Ludhiana and the industrialists seeking permission would have to ensure that their labour is quarantined within their factory premises. If the industrialist fails to quarantine the Labour inside the factory premises, then the labour would have to be provided with transportation service (only 50% passengers).
He informed that the projects, whose construction was underway and that have to be completed in public interest, permission would be granted to them to complete them. He clarified that before starting any work, necessary permission needs to be taken from the District Administration and these permissions would be granted as per the new directions of the Punjab government.
The Deputy Commissioner informed that for all these works, the labour would not be allowed to commute on their own, besides the record of the health checkup of labour has to be maintained, and masks, sanitisers and soaps need to be provided to the labour. The persons seeking permissions would also have to ensure social distancing strictly. He informed that the district administration would hold checking of all industries/businesses to ensure whether all the directions are strictly complied with or not and if any industry/business is found violating these directions, strict action would be taken against them.
Mr Agrawal informed that if any citizen needs to do some important work, they need to apply for an e-pass and urged them that they should follow all directions issued by the Punjab government and district administration. He stated that the government offices can only open if they have necessary permission. He said that all the old services would continue as usual and the passes would remain valid till May 3, 2020.
He also clarified that people do not need to visit offices for any work and they should only apply online for any services. He said that there would be no personal hearing because the main aim of this curfew/lockdown is to reduce person to person contact.
Mr Agrawal reiterated that like he has gone into self-quarantine, people should also follow suit and stay indoors in public interest. He said that if people come in contact with each other, the danger of spread of this disease would increase. He informed that he himself is holding meetings with officials through video conferencing.

943 SAMPLES OUT OF TOTAL 1072 NEGATIVE IN LUDHIANA:
Mr Pradeep Kumar Agrawal informed that till date, 1072 samples have bene taken, out of which report of 962 has been received and reports of 110 samples is awaited. He informed that 19 samples have been found positive till date, out of which 15 are from Ludhiana, while four from other districts. He informed that results of 943 samples have been found negative, while one patient has already been discharged from hospital after treatment.
He further informed that screening of residents in two hostpots of the district, Amarpura and Chowkimann/Gurre, is underway. He said that 6574 people in 1668 houses of Amarpura have been screened, and four people have been found symptomatic, whose samples have been taken. He said that 7700 people in 1506 houses of Chowkimann/Gurre villages have been screened and no person was symptomatic.

DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION TAKES BACK LETTER ISSUED ON APRIL 19
ALL DIRECTIONS ISSUED REGARDING CURFEW/LOCKDOWN ON APRIL 15, 2020, TO REMAIN ENFORCED: DEPUTY COMMISSIONER

Ludhiana: District Magistrate-cum-Deputy Commissioner Mr Pradeep Kumar Agrawal has taken back the orders related to relaxations in curfew/lockdown issued on April 19, 2020. He informed that some conditional permissions related to this letter were still proposed. Mr Agrawal clarified that the directions issued by him on April 15, 2020 would continue till May 3, 2020.