Delhi Police on Friday issued an order approving smooth delivery of essential goods, including food, groceries and medicines, in the city during the coronavirus lockdown.
Several e-commerce firms and food delivering companies have been complaining that police was not allowing them to ply on roads since Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown on Tuesday.
Commissioner of Police S N Shrivastava on Friday issued an order complying with the guidelines given by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). The MHA has said while the country needs to be in a 'lockdown', supply and storage of essential goods, including health infrastructure and food, must be allowed.
The order has been forwarded to all senior officials and they will now follow the standard operating procedure (SOP) that was given by the MHA on Thursday.
On Wednesday, after a meeting with e-commerce companies, Delhi Police had said that it will allow delivery of food and groceries during the lockdown.
However on Thursday, the Delhi police commissioner released another order withdrawing the online firms to re-start their services. Though the order also stated that the police will revise the guidelines for the online companies.
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Under the MHA's order, a ration shop dealing with groceries, vegetables, fruits, dairy products, meat, animal fodder, seeds and pesticides will be allowed to function.
It is also mentioned that home delivery of food, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment is also operational.
Delhi police has said it will follow these orders and won't restrict the movement of essential goods.
Since the manufacturing and transport of many of the essential goods take place in different cities, Delhi Police will also allow inter-city and inter-state transport of all goods.
According to the SOP, police must not shut warehouses where non-essential goods are also stored.
The retailers will have to give an undertaking saying they will only deal with essential goods and will also have to allow authorities to audit their records. The employees engaged in the supply chain of the goods must have ID proof along with e-pass, given by the government.
The companies have been directed to deploy minimum staff to deliver goods, conduct health check-ups of employees and provide them with protective gear.
According to the MHA order, the state government can also open a 24x7 control room to register complaints of employees and people facing issues with food supply.