Workshops, cell phone shops to open on specific days

Registered electricians free to attend to calls

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday said that cell phone shops could open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays.

Workshops and automobile sparepart shops could open for business on Sundays and Thursdays. Registered electricians could attend calls as usual.

The government would soon designate a day for dealers of fans and air conditioners to open for business. It was also weighing whether it could allow salons to open on a specific day.

The task force led by former Chief Secretary K.M. Abraham has suggested a slew of measures to walk the State back from the lockdown in carefully calibrated phases.

The government has sent the report for the consideration of the Centre. The national lockdown would end on April 14.

Centre to decide

The ball was in the Central government’s court to decide whether it should be extended or not. The Centre would pronounce its decision soon. Then States, including Kerala, would have their say, Mr. Vijayan said.

He said the government had prioritised the unimpeded movement of essential freight, including cooking gas, into Kerala.

Mr. Vijayan expressed concern that the inflow of cargo trucks into Kerala had dwindled marginally compared to past days.

The State has sufficient food stock. But it has to replenish its larder. “The focus is on procuring essentials and cooking gas to preempt shortage,” the Chief Minister said.

Vegetable procurement

The government would step in to save farmers from bankruptcy. Vegetable cultivators were in deep financial distress. They had lost the Vishu sales and harvests were languishing in warehouses.

The Agriculture Department would procure the vegetables, including bananas, and supply them to local traders.

Stale fish

Mr. Vijayan said stale fish earmarked for fertiliser pits to make compost was being peddled in Kerala as the fresh catch from across the border in Tamil Nadu. The authorities had impounded and destroyed several such toxic consignments.

He flagged an upsurge in illegal activities, including sand mining and smuggling of bootleg liquor into tribal areas of Attappady from neighbouring Tamil Nadu.