BENGALURU: A day after it announced stringent measures to tackle the spread of the coronavirus, the State Government modified its order on 50 per cent seating capacity in cinema halls, coming under pressure from the film industry. Cinema halls can now have full seating capacity till April 6.
"Under Clause 10 of the order, seating in cinema halls was restricted to a maximum of 50 per cent of the capacity. The Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce has made a request to the CM to allow cinema halls to run at full capacity as advance online bookings have been made and due to non-receipt of advance notice. It is now decided that the restriction will be made applicable with effect from April 7, 2021," a fresh order from Chief Secretary P Ravi Kumar said.
Just a few hours before Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa did a U-turn, Health and Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar had insisted that the government was firm on its COVID-19 guidelines issued on Friday and that there won’t be any relaxation even if there is pressure from any sector.
However, actor Puneeth Rajkumar, whose big budget movie Yuvarathna saw a grand release on Thursday, along with members of the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce met the CM on Saturday evening and requested him to revoke the order, citing pre-bookings for movies that were released on Thursday.
After Sandalwood, gyms also want norms relaxed
The State Government, on the advice of the Technical Advisory Committee for COVID-19, on Friday had ordered 50 per cent seating capacity in cinema halls in seven districts including Bengaluru and Mysuru, among several other restrictions.
However, Sandalwood actors, producers and fans came down heavily on the decision and protested against it. They even ran a Twitter campaign with the hashtag "wewant100%seatingcapacity". Several prominent actors including Puneeth Rajkumar, Yash, Rakshit Shetty, Duniya Vijay and Kiccha Sudeep took to Twitter condemning the decision.
Film producer K Manju blamed the Health Minister for taking the decision. "The Health Minister's portfolio should be changed. He does not know how to contain the spread of the virus. Such orders will impact livelihoods of the entire Kannada cinema industry," he told media persons.
While fans gathered near theatres and raised slogans against the government, there was a mad rush for tickets for the big budget movie. However, experts on the Technical Advisory Committee are irked with CM’s decision under pressure from the film industry.
A senior doctor, who is one of the members, said, "It is unfortunate that such decisions have to be revoked. Restrictions at this time is a must, otherwise the state will be forced to impose a lockdown soon. Our health care system will be burdened and we will be seeing people dying due to COVID-19."
"There have been several such instances when our advice have been ignored or orders reversed. Such strict norms are necessary to break the transmission of the virus. The decision to prevent gatherings of any kind was taken only after several meetings with all ministers including the CM," he added.
Meanwhile, gym owners too have demanded that the government reconsider the decision on operating at 50 per cent capacity or announce a package for staff payments and maintenance. "There is pressure from some private schools also to allow them to function. There are similar demands from gym, swimming pool and club owners. Also, people want to conduct marriages with large gatherings," Dr Sudhakar said.
"These curbs are not permanent, let’s follow these temporary measures for some days... I’m not saying it (COVID-19 spread) can be controlled 100 per cent by these measures, but we can try to bring things under control," he explained.
"The government should be more careful while revoking such decisions as it can not only cause embarrassment to the state, but also lead to laxity in people who are already not following Covid-19 norms," a senior doctor at a private hospital said.
State Government’s U-turns in the past
April 2020: Allowed two-wheelers and opening of IT-BT offices with one-third workforce, but withdrew the relaxations following criticism from health experts
Nov 2020: Banned crackers for Deepavali, but revoked it later, allowing only green firecrackers
Dec 2020: Announced night curfew, but withdrew the order six hours before it was to be imposed