Reliance Group chairman Anil Ambani's son and RInfra and Reliance Capital director Anmol Ambani has hit out at authorities in Maharashtra for categorising work based on priority as the second Covid-19 wave sweeps the state.
In his tweets, the elder son of Anil Ambani said while actors, professional cricketers, politicians were allowed to do their jobs without any hindrance, restrictions were imposed on businesses.
"Professional 'actors' can continue shooting their films. Professional 'cricketers' can play their sport late into the night. Professional 'politicians' can continue their rallies with masses of people. But YOUR business or work is not ESSENTIAL. Still don't get it?" he rued.
He asserted that each individual's work was essential to them so categorising work-based priority was not correct. "What does essential even mean? EACH INDIVIDUALS WORK IS ESSENTIAL TO THEM," he wrote.
Also read: Unfair! Restaurant sector feels 'singled out' in Maharashtra's Covid-19 curbs
On Sunday, the government had announced that except for essential services shops, medical shops and grocery shops, all other shops, markets and shopping malls will remain shut till April 30. It also announced that all private offices, except in banking, stock market, insurance, pharma, telecommunication and mediclaim sectors, will be shut as part of these restrictions.
Work from home is mandatory for private offices, except those in local disaster management, electricity and water supply, the statement had said. Government offices, except those departments involved in COVID-19 management, will function at 50 per cent of their capacity, it added.
Maharashtra chief secretary Sitaram Kunte, in the state government's latest guidelines, also issued strict guidelines for containment of Covid-19, which will be in place till April 30.
The strict curbs, including a curfew from 8 pm till 7 am, and prohibitory orders during the daytime on weekdays came into force from Monday. The government also released a list of essential and non-essential services.
Also read: Maharashtra COVID-19 lockdown rules: Restaurants, offices, malls - what's allowed, what's not
The notification says petrol pumps and related products, cargo services, data/centres/cloud services supporting critical infra, government and private security services, and fruit vendors may be considered as essential services.
It said among private players, SEBI and its Offices, RBI regulated entities-primary dealers, CCIL, NPCI, payment system operators, all NBFCs, microfinance institutions may be allowed to remain open on weekdays.
According to the circular, offices of advocates, custom house agents, and licensed multi-modal transport operators associated with the movement of pharma products will be allowed to open on weekdays.
However, all the personnel attending these offices will have to get themselves vaccinated at the earliest. Until vaccinated completely, these staffers will be required to carry an RT-PCR negative report, which will remain valid for 15 days.
This rule will come into effect from April 10. In the absence of the COVID-19 negative certificate, the offender will be fined Rs 1,000.
The state government had on Sunday announced a weekend lockdown and night curfew during the weekdays from Monday to April 30, in addition to a slew of other restrictions like the closure of private offices, theatres and salons to curb the unprecedented surge in COVID-19 cases.