Unlock 1.0 begins today, states issue fresh guidelines

New Delhi: India entered its fifth phase of lockdown on Monday ( June 1, 2020) which happens to be completely different from the previous lockdown as it comes with several relaxations and therefore being referred as Unlock 1. Several state governments on Sunday came up with 'Unlock 1' guidelines including allowing inter-state travel while extending the lockdown till June 30 with relaxations. 

The Centre's guidelines on Unlock 1 suggest that the lockdown will be in effect for containment zones which will be decided by the states. While for the non-containment zones, this is the lifting of the lockdown in a phased manner.

Unlock 1 is divided into three phases and the Home Ministry on Saturday said that it will come in force from June 8 under which the lockdown norms will be relaxed to a great extent, including the opening of shopping malls, restaurants and religious places, while strict restrictions will remain in place till June 30 in the country’s worst-hit areas.

Meanwhile, states have released their individual guidelines on what is permitted and what is not. Mostly transport services have been allowed and offices and shops have been permitted to reopen, with proper rules being followed.

In the worst-hit state Maharashtra, the state government announced the extension of the lockdown in the entire state till June 30, and called the new phase of reopening as 'Mission Begin Again'. It allowed many relaxations and phase-wise resumption of activities.

Other states which issued guidelines extending the lockdown till June 30 include Telangana, Tamil Nadu,  Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, and West Bengal. States like Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka also lifted restrictions on the inter-state and intra-state movement of people and goods.

The Uttar Pradesh government also lifted ban on interstate travel but left it to the district administrations of Ghaziabad and Noida to take a call on the movement of people from adjoining Delhi.