Letter to BS: Many services should have been restarted after first lockdown

PM must withdraw the powers of the CMs to put restrictions on the state borders and have separate quarantine rules

Many services should not have been shut during the lockdown without having any idea of the implications thereof. Even if they were put under lockdown, these should have been restarted after the first phase. Now the government wants to start some services in the interest of the economy, but there is opposition from various quarters. In this situation, life and the economy will not move forward and there is a threat to peace also. Unemployed youth will not sit quietly for long. The Prime Minister, who has withdrawn some restrictions needs to understand that now the chances of the boat sinking are very high if left to the chief ministers who are thinking only of their states and the coronavirus deaths there. He must withdraw the powers of the CMs to put restrictions on the state borders and have separate quarantine rules.

We need to also examine the relevance of the colonial-era Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897. It has to be kept in mind that none of the provisions of the Act can restrict Articles 19(d) and 19(e) of the Constitution that guarantee to all citizens the right to freedom of movement throughout the territory of India, and to reside/settle anywhere in the country.

Bhartendu Sood Chandigarh

Letters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:

The Editor, Business Standard

Nehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg

New Delhi 110 002

Fax: (011) 23720201 · E-mail: letters@bsmail.in

All letters must have a postal address and telephone number