Bars, which were also closed since lockdown came into effect on March 25, might also be allowed to sell liquor over the counter for takeaway services, the officials said.
Schools and colleges, however, will continue to remain closed but the government is considering reopening institutes like IITs and IIMs.
According to deliberations in the ministry of home affairs (MHA) and other concerned departments, cinema halls and auditoriums will also continue to remain closed for another month. There is a view in the government that even if cinema halls are allowed right now, it won’t be financially viable for them to run shows with only 25-30% capacity due to physical distancing norms.
On metro services, officials said that modifications are still being worked out in consultation with ministry of housing and urban affairs, local governments, metro rail corporations and security agencies. “The new norms being drafted by the MHA on resumption of metro rail are likely to include contact-less ticketing through metro cards, increase in the average stoppage time at each station, markings for queues across all stations to control crowds and maintaining social distancing and an overhaul in the air conditioning system inside the trains to ensure supply of fresh air,” said an official who didn’t wish to be named.
This officer said that the metro rail across the country, which has been shut since March 22, is likely to begin in a calibrated manner, similar to how railways and flight services were resumed with limited frequency and capacity.
The Unlock-4 guidelines for the same will be issued later this week and once the MHA gives the nod, respective state government can further decide how to run the metro trains and their timings, another officer said
They added that social, political, sports, entertainment, academic, cultural, religious functions and other large congregations are also likely to remain prohibited next month HT
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