The Tamil Nadu government may go along broadly with the ‘Unlock 4’ guidelines issued by the Centre on Saturday.
The State government is believed to be considering, among other things, resumption of intra-district public transport and re-opening of hotels and resorts. Some more relief is expected because of the State’s compulsion to allow more economic activities, especially in view of the expected gap in revenue due to the shortfall in the Goods and Services Tax.
Hinting that the State might largely align itself with the Centre’s latest guidelines, a source in the government said details of the decision would be made known through a press release on Sunday.
During the day-long deliberations at the Secretariat on Saturday, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami held two video-conference sessions with Collectors and other officials to take stock of the situation arising out of the COVID-19 lockdown, which will expire on Monday.
He also met a team of medical experts.
Until now, Tamil Nadu has retained the e-pass system for the movement of persons, though the Centre has recommended its abolition.
A few days ago, the Chief Minister, during a visit to Cuddalore, made clear his government’s intention to retain e-passes and said the issuance of e-passes had been liberalised.
The government’s position was that if the system is abolished, the authorities would not be able to perform the task of contact-tracing effectively.
