NE NEWS SERVICE
CHENNAI, MARCH 20
Tamil Nadu Govenor Banwarilal Purohit and the Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Friday appealed to the people of the state to support Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “janta curfew” call as part of the country’s fight against coronavirus.
The Governor appealed to the youth of the state, organisations like NCC and the civil society to spread awareness on the Prime Minister”s call. “The Governor (has) appealed to the people of Tamil Nadu to support the Janata Curfew on March 22 from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. to prevent and stop this global pandemic,” a Raj Bhavan release said.
He requested the people to abide by this “janata curfew” and not to leave their homes, it added.
He sought peoples support to express gratitude to lakhs of people who have been working day and night in hospitals and airports to fight against coronavirus by clapping hands, in line with the Prime Minister’s request, the release said.
He also requested the local authorities across the state to sound a siren at 5 pm on Sunday, it said.
“The success of a peoples curfew and the experience gained from it will also prepare us for our upcoming challenges,” it added.
In a separate statement, the Chief Minister appealed the people to follow 9-point appeal of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s for Janta Curfew and support the government initiative to fight the coronavirus. The state transport corporation buses and metro rail service would be stopped on Sunday.
Besides this, the Chief Minister also announced restrictions of the inter-state transport completely from Saturday to March 31. All non-essential inter-state transport will be stopped, only essential services such as milk, vegetables, cooking gas, ambulances, petrol and diesel and those travelling to take part in funerals will be allowed. Public transport will be operated with minimum frequency for the benefit of essential services, the Chief Minister said in the statement.
On Thursday, Modi in an address to the nation had called for “resolve and restraint” to fight coronavirus, and asked the entire country to observe the 14-hour ”Janata curfew” from 7 AM on Sunday. In a televised address, he had asked people to stay indoors and work from home as much as possible, a statement that came amidst growing demand for stricter implementation of social distancing, a key to stem the spread of the deadly virus that has claimed almost 10,000 lives globally.
