After the number of daily cases falling continuously in India, now the government has decided to remove the provisions of the Disaster Management Act from April 1. However, during this time the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) issued by the Ministry of Health will continue, the Central Government issued orders for the first time on 24 March 2020 regarding the measures for prevention of COVID. At present, the period of the applicable rules expires on March 31.
According to the language, after nearly two years, the Ministry of Home Affairs has decided to remove all restrictions related to COVID-19 from March 31. However, the rules of wearing masks and maintaining social distance will remain in force.
The government has taken this decision following the recommendations of the National Disaster Management Authority. In this regard, a letter has also been sent by the Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla to the Principal Secretaries of all the states. He wrote, ‘I would advise all the states / union territories to consider appropriately dismantling the orders issued under the DM Act 2005 for covid prevention measures.’
However, the letter said that the advisory regarding wearing of masks and hand hygiene may be continued. It has been told in the letter that the total number of cases in the country is at 23 thousand 913 and the positivity rate has come down to 0.28 percent. Along with this, 181.56 crore vaccinations have also been mentioned.
He wrote, ‘In view of the improvement in the situation and the preparedness of the government to deal with the epidemic, NDMA has decided that there is no need to implement the provisions of the DM Act for prevention of COVID. He wrote that no new order will be issued after the completion of the existing order issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs on 25 February 2022.