Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday said that the ban on door-to-door delivery of newspapers was temporary and a decision to revoke the same will be taken soon after assessing the current situation regarding the coronavirus outbreak.
Uddhav Thackeray held a virtual meeting with the newspaper distributors in which he said that the decision to prohibit newspaper delivery was taken to stop the spread of the coronavirus or COVID-19.
Earlier, the Maharashtra government had told the Bombay High Court that banning door-to-door delivery of newspapers amid the coronavirus outbreak was an exceptional tool and doesn’t violate freedom of press.
The Chief Minister further said that the lockdown 4.0 is in place till May 31 and its focus is towards red zones and containment areas where COVID-19 have been rising. Some relaxations have been given in orange and green zones, he added.
Thackeray said that there are restrictions on newspaper distribution but a solution would be found soon.
As per the health ministry guidelines for the fourth phase of the nationwide lockdown, there are only two zones now - red zones (including containment areas) and non-red zones (orange and green zones).
In the virtual meeting, the distributors informed Uddhav Thackeray that since housing societies under red zone areas are not allowing doorstep delivery of newspapers but they are being sold at stalls while maintaining social distancing norms.
However, the Chief Minister said that despite food supplies and other essentials being allowed for home delivery, satisfactory precautions should be taken to ensure that there is no spread of the coronavirus.
Maharashtra has 39,297 COVID-19 cases while the death toll has reached 1,325. In Mumbai alone, the number of cases has risen to 24,118 and the death toll in the city has reached more than 800.
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