Home ministry to act against officials who fail to check lockdown violations in their areas

New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government will now hold officers on duty responsible for any violation of the lockdown guidelines in their respective areas, and will also take strict action against them under the Disaster Management Act, ThePrint has learnt.

A Ministry of Home Affairs official said the government is monitoring the situation across the states, including incidents of lockdown violation.

“Incidents of violation, which includes congregation of people, opening of shops and establishments other than those permitted in the guidelines, are being monitored daily. The administrative staff and officers concerned are expected to take charge of their area to keep these violations under check,” the official said.

The MHA is also monitoring instances of violence against health workers engaged in the fight against Covid-19.

“The MHA will take action under the Disaster Management Act against officers found responsible for such violations. The action will be taken for negligence of duty,” the official said.

“We had said initially too that all district magistrates will be responsible for their areas. The responsibility was fixed very early on. This is also a part of the MHA guidelines and advisories,” the official added.

On 29 March, the government had acted against four Delhi government officials — suspending Additional Chief Secretary (Transport) Renu Sharma and Principal Secretary (Finance) Rajiv Verma, and issuing showcase notices to Additional Chief Secretary (Home and Land Buildings departments) Satya Gopal and Seelampur Sub-Divisional Magistrate Ajay Kumar Arora — for dereliction of duty and failing to “ensure public health and safety”.

States told to make all arrangements for migrants

The MHA official said Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba Thursday asked all state chief secretaries to ensure adequate arrangements for safety, shelter and food security of migrant workers, and for the ones who have been stranded due to the lockdown.

The cabinet secretary also told district collectors to appoint nodal officers, who would be responsible for coordinating the arrangements for migrant labourers.

“Each camp is to be put under the charge of a senior official,” he said.

“The Centre has directed all states and nodal officers to keep shelter and food for migrants as a priority. Also, the chief secretaries will be responsible for what happens to the migrants in their state. This has been done to fix responsibility and ensure that the problem is effectively dealt with,” the official added.

THE PRINT