Shrines June 1, offices June 8 --All relaxations to be confined to clean and buffer areas; restrictions in containment zones to continue

Autorickshaw drivers wait for passengers in Calcutta on Thursday 

Pranesh Sarkar, TT, 30.05.20, Calcutta: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has announced that government offices can function with 70 per cent of their workforce from June 8, and places of worship can open from June 1 with a ceiling of 10 devotees at a time.

“Let workers join work…. The Centre had said assistance would be provided to the workers of unorganised sectors, but I have heard that many of them have not received anything,” Mamata said at Nabanna, indicating the trigger behind the relaxations was her desire to ensure livelihood.

The restrictions in the Covid-19 containment zones will continue. All the relaxations, a senior government official said, will be confined to clean and buffer areas.

Some of the key decisions the chief minister announced during a videoconference with senior administration officials and elected representatives:

Offices: Government offices can function with 70 per cent employees from June 8. Initially, the chief minister had said a 100 per cent workforce would be allowed at both government and private offices. Later, she tweeted that 70 per cent would be allowed at government offices while leaving it to the private offices to decide on their workforce participation.

“I urge all to stay safe, work indoors as much as possible and to the best of their abilities,” Mamata tweeted at night.

Clarity is awaited whether all modes of transport can operate normally from June 8.

“Many employees depend on local trains and the Metro for commuting. It’s still not clear whether local trans and the Metro would be made operational by that time,” a bureaucrat said.

Officials hoped that clarity would emerge by May 31 when the fourth phase of the lockdown ends. Calcutta Metro had held a trial run on Thursday.

Asked about transport, Mamata said her government had allowed buses, taxis and autos but local train and Metro services were the Centre’s decision.

“Private offices have their own arrangements for pick-up and drop-off. We’ll think about measures relating to our employees (if local trains and Metro services are not available),” Mamata said.

Buses: Mamata said buses would be allowed to fill their seating capacity from June 1. Passengers will not be allowed to travel standing. So far, buses were allowed to run with only 20 passengers to maintain social distancing.

Only state-run buses were plying on select routes so far. Private bus owners have said it would be unviable to operate with only 20 passengers unless fares were raised.

“The government too was incurring losses. Now, buses will be allowed to run to full seating capacity. But standing will not be allowed on the buses. Hand santisers have to be given and the use of masks is mandatory,” the chief minister said

After her announcement, private bus operators said they would meet on Sunday to discuss the possible fare structure if they have to run their fleet with only seated passengers.

“We’ll meet on Sunday and decide how to run buses in keeping with the chief minister’s proposal,” said Tapan Bandopadhyay of the Joint Council of Bus Syndicates.

Around 9,000 private buses operate across Calcutta. “We’ll start plying buses on a few routes from June 1 on the basis of the existing fares to test the waters,” said Rahul Chatterjee of the Bus Minibus Samannoy Samity.

“If buses have to ply from June 8, the government must ensure the crew are provided with gloves, masks and sanitisers.”

Tea, jute: Mamata said the tea and jute industries would be allowed to function with their full workforce from June 1. These two sectors were functioning with 50 per cent of the workforce so far.

“As both sectors are labour-intensive, allowing 100 per cent workforce will help a large number of workers,” an official said.

Mamata said that workers in the unorganised sector were the worst sufferers. “They could not say anything out of fear. Let all of them work now,” she said.

Places of worship: Mamata said all places of worship can be kept open from June 1, but only 10 people would be allowed to enter at a time.

“If thousands can travel on trains together, temples, mosques and churches can be kept open. This is what I feel. I expect the Centre to also consider this,” the chief minister said.

She made it clear there would be no religious gatherings and asked the authorities at religious places to ensure that congregations did not take place.

“You can appoint volunteers. I expect that religious leaders will follow the guidelines. If the guidelines are not followed, we will be forced to implement the lockdown measures,” Mamata said.