The Ranchi district administration on Friday issued few guidelines for both permanent and contractual workers as well as asking landlords to provide relief on rent for a month from tenants. As per Ranchi district administration guidelines, industries, shops and commercial establishments must pay wages as usual to their workers during the lockdown period. These applies to both permanent and contractual workers as well as workers not currently working due to the lockdown. Payment should be made through direct transfer as far as possible, it said.
The district administration has also asked landlords to provide moratorium on rented accommodation for a period. Rent exemption for 30 days starting from 29.03.2020 for tenants residing in Ranchi district. Landlords cannot evict any tenant during the lockdown period for non-payment of rent, discrimination due to COVID-19, profession , religion, caste and others.
The district administration directive also states that those living in employer provided accommodation too cannot be evicted during the lockdown period.
Sources said that the district administration guidelines can be a great relief for those, who are unable to pay rent due to lockdown period as most of the shops and business establishments are closed.
Upendra Prasad, an auto rickshaw driver and resident of Ratu Road area said, “The district administration directive is a great relief for us as we were confused how we will pay the rent as due to lockdown we are not taking out our autos.”
Meanwhile, the district administration on Friday too carried out sanitization work at Hindpiri area after a Malaysian woman was tested positive with Covid19. The Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) team in various group visited lanes and bylanes of Hindpiri area carrying out sanitization work.
On Thursday, a section of residents in Ranchi’s Hindpiri locality, where Jharkhand’s first Covid-19 case was reported, resisted the medical teams which went for screening from entering their houses, suspecting that the data to be collected from every household would finally be used for National Population Register (NPR).
However, the team later carried out the screening test of people on the intervention of senior district administration officials and religious leaders.
Moreover, the district administration to tackle any emergency situation has decided to convert premier establishments as quarantine centre. Some of the government as well as private structures which have been converted as quarantine centres are Khel Goan sports complex, Haj House at Kadru and Maheshwari Bhawan in Upper Bazaar.
On Thursday evening when the district administration team reached Haj House at Kadru for converting building as quarantine centres the team had to face people wrath. However, on the interference of local police and religious leaders it was decided to develop the Haj House as quarantine centres.
