Ministry of Home Affairs India directs States to ensure Smooth Movement of Inter & Intrastate Cargo, Trucks, Workers, and functioning of Warehouse/Cold Storages.

Truck, Transportation

New Delhi, April 12, 2020 — Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued consolidated guidelines on lockdown measures to be taken by all Ministries/Departments of Government of India, States/Union Territory Governments and State/Union Territory Authorities for containment of COVID-19 epidemic in the country.

Subsequent clarifications to these guidelines were also issued to ensure the availability of essential goods and services across the country and prevent hardships to the people.

MHA has directed States to implement lockdown guidelines in letter & spirit to ensure smooth movement of inter & intrastate cargo, trucks, workers, and functioning of warehouse/cold storages.

MHA said that some administrations are not implementing the guidelines in letter and spirit. Specifically, trucks carrying essential and non-essential goods are getting detained. Workers needed for the operation of manufacturing units of essential commodities are not getting authorizations/ passes for their movement. The inter-State flow of goods and personnel related to the above two groups is getting impeded as passes/ authorizations issued by authorities of one State/ UT Government are not being respected by the authorities of other States/ UTs. Further, operations of cold storage and warehouses are not being allowed.

Such restrictions, concerning activities permitted explicitly by MHA, have the potential of creating shortages of essential commodities. To bring in clarity at the implementation level, MHA reiterated that the following guidelines are to be observed strictly by the authorities at various levels:

Inter-state and intra-state movement of all trucks and other goods/carrier vehicles with one driver and one additional person is allowed as long as the driver is carrying a valid driver’s license. It is irrespective of the nature of the cargo, whether essential or otherwise. No further permit or approval would be required.
Empty trucks/ goods carriers should also be allowed to operate while on the way to pick up goods, or returning after completing a delivery. Hence, there is no cause to stop empty trucks provided they have valid documents such as driving license & road permit.
Local authorities should actively facilitate the movement of truck drivers and cleaners from their place of residence to the location of their trucks.
Local authorities should facilitate the easy to and fro movement of workers to the workplace and back, in respect of all the permitted industrial/ commercial activities.
Railways, Airports, Seaports, and Customs authorities are authorized to issue passes for their staff and contractual labor.
Enterprises engaged in the manufacture of essential items like wheat flour (atta), pulses (dal), and edible oils should be allowed to function freely without any hindrances.
Warehouses/ cold storage should be allowed to freely function with allowance for to and fro movement of trucks and without regard to the nature of the goods, whether essential or otherwise.

These stipulations will apply to all areas other than the regions requiring containment, quarantine, and surveillance measures.

The movement of persons and vehicles, as above, would be subject to strict adherence to norms of hygiene and social distancing, as is required in the context of COVID-19. All States would inform district authorities and field agencies regarding the above instructions so that there is no ambiguity at the ground level, and the allowed activities go on without any hindrance, the Ministry of Home Affairs of India stated.

|GlobalGiants.Com|

Edited & Posted by the Editor | 3:06 PM | Link to this Post