THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Lockdown restrictions and economic slowdown have badly affected the lives of the people of Kerala, said Chief Secretary V P Joy in an affidavit submitted before the Supreme Court on Monday. Arguing that lockdown cannot be continued forever, Joy said there was growing unrest among the public over the restrictions, which have been in place for over two months.
The state filed the affidavit as directed by the Supreme Court, which is considering a petition challenging the relaxations announced by the government for three days of Bakrid festival. The division bench comprising Justice R F Nariman and B R Gavai will hear the petition filed on Monday by Delhi resident P K D Nambiar as the first item on Tuesday.
In the affidavit, Joy said the opposition parties in Kerala also demanded relaxations and the government took the decision after listening to expert advice. He also quoted the statement issued by the Kerala unit of Indian Medical Association last week, which said Covid infection couldn’t be controlled through tough regulations.
Explaining the TPR-based classification of local bodies, the affidavit said there was no relaxation in areas where the TPR is still high and the announced relaxations were for local bodies having lower TPR. The state also promised to implement a comprehensive plan to bring down TPR in areas where infection rate remained high.
‘State strictly following Centre’s guidelines’
In his petition, Nambiar alleged the state decided to relax curbs due to political and communal considerations and not on medical advice. “News reports say the decision followed discussions between CM Pinarayi Vijayan and leaders of Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samithy (KVVES),” he alleged. The petitioner also pointed out how the Uttar Pradesh government cancelled its decision to allow Kanwar Yatra after the Supreme Court’s intervention.
Kerala’s standing counsel G Prakash said the allegation levelled by the petitioner was baseless. He said the restrictions have already been in place in the state and what the government did was to extend the relaxation to open shop in some more regions. He said the state was strictly following the guidelines issued by the Centre while managing the lockdown.
The state government lifted the restrictions for July 18, 19 and 20, following pressure from KVVES which announced forceful opening of shops if the government did not allow them to open before Bakrid. The government announced relaxations after discussion between Pinarayi and KVVES leaders on last Friday.
The Indian Medical Association’s national leadership had criticised the decision, describing it as an “unwarranted and inappropriate” measure during a medical emergency. It said lifting of curbs would result in crowding and pave the way for a third Covid wave.