PANJIM: With thousands of tourists descending onto the State to ring in the New Year, Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant ruled out a suggestion from his Cabinet colleague and Health Minister Vishwajit Rane for imposing night curfew in the State as per the Centre’s directives.
The Health Minister took to social media on Thursday morning to reveal that he had spoken to the CM on imposing night curfew on December 31 based on directions from Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).
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However, the Chief Minister said there was no decision on night curfew in Goa. “We have not taken any decision on night curfew on December 31 and January 1,” Sawant said while interacting with media persons at his official residence.
The CM also expressed ignorance about any such move saying there may have been file movement but there will be no night curfew on December 31, 2020 and January 1, 2021.
“Lakhs of people are in the State for the festival season and we have not taken any such decision. But the locals, tourists and the party organisers have to
follow all SOPs to see that there is no spread of virus. We are still in the midst of the pandemic. We need to maintain safe social distancing, wear mask and use sanitisers. This is a festive season and government does not want to take drastic step as of now,” he said.
Earlier, Rane had tweeted stating, “Spoke to the CM Pramod Sawant on imposing night curfew in the State on lines of the State of Delhi & Karnataka. The file is already in process. Strict SOPs is the need of the hour as Goa is a tourist State.”
A few days earlier Sawant had said that there was no need for curfews or lockdowns in the State as of now like the ones in neighbouring States of Karnataka and Maharashtra.
He had further said, “I have received a letter from Ministry of Health to ensure SOPs & protocols are laid down by each State based on the situation in the respective States. Goa being a tourism State, it is imperative to have strict SOPs in place, to sustain tourism activities in keeping with COVID-19 guidelines.”
