India eases Covid-19 lockdown, allowing some shops to reopen on limited basis as Modi preaches virtues of “self-reliance”
New Delhi has given the green light for small shops across India to open their doors under certain conditions, as the country begins to relax far-reaching lockdown measures brought to stop the spread of Covid-19.
The Ministry of Home Affairs issued an order late on Friday night granting permission to “non-essential” shop owners to get back to work starting on Saturday, asking only that they continue to abide by social distancing guidelines and don masks and gloves in public to limit transmission of the lethal virus.
“All registered shops under the Shops and Establishment Act …including shops in residential complexes, neighborhoods and standalone shops [are] exempted from lockdown restrictions,” the ministry said in its order, adding that businesses must allow only half of their employees to return to work, and that the relaxed rules would not apply in “hotspots” or “containment zones” hit especially hard by Covid-19.