Rajasthan Govt imposes night curfew in Jaipur & 7 other districts to check COVID-19 rise

The Government of Rajasthan has imposed a night curfew in Jaipur along with 7 other districts, where COVID-19 cases are rising at an alarming rate. This decision came on Saturday, after the administration advised to impose a state-wide Section 144 to discourage large crowd gatherings. Moving in the same direction, the CM announced a hiked penalty amount on gathering of more than 100 people at marriages from ₹10,000 to ₹ 25,000, on Sunday.

Rajasthan builds defense against pandemic

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The Rajasthan cabinet on Saturday announced night curfew in eight districts including state capital Jaipur, along with Jodhpur, Bikaner, Kota, Udaipur, Alwar, Ajmer and Bhilwara to arrest the rapid rise of the coronavirus. All markets, restaurants, commercial shops and other establishments in these districts shall now close by 7 PM and the curfew will be imposed in these cities from 8 PM to 6 AM. The state, however, has excluded emergency services such as medical shops, and movement of railways and air travellers from this imposition.

The Chief Minister has also tasked the District Collectors, Superintendents of Police and other senior officials to ensure that the norms of night curfew are maintained in the eight districts as announced and not more than 100 people are gathered in the crowd. It is mandatory to wear masks and obey the social distancing guidelines.

High Penalty for Offenders

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A cabinet meeting was called to review the increasing spike of COVID-19 cases in the state in the backdrop of the approaching winters and the ongoing marriage season. Chaired by the Chief Minister, the meeting concluded that those not wearing masks will now be penalised with ₹500 instead of the previous fine fixed at ₹200. The state also lowered the number of guests attending a wedding, limiting the guest list to 100 attendees.

In an attempt to strictly impose the '100-guest wedding' protocol, the Chief Minister on Sunday announced that there will be an increase in the penalty, on gathering more than the permitted number of people at marriages, from ₹10,000 to ₹25,000. The wedding organisers should also be updated in this context that more than 100 people are not permitted in the wedding function, he added.

The Cabinet Head further stated that all norms and protocols are being enforced to further the government objective of saving lives of the people. At present, Rajasthan's total COVID tally stands at 2,43,936 as the virus continues to rise by 1.1% in the state. On the other hand, Jaipur is nursing the highest tally of the state's total caseload, clocking the 42,701 mark. There is an urgent need to break the infection chain in the state which has surged past the tally of 2,000 cases since the beginning of November.

-With inputs from IANS