Summary:
Kerala replied to SC that the curbs were eased for the traders who had stocked goods for Bakrid.
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Earlier there was a controversy over the ease of covid restrictions on the occasion of Bakrid.
Now the Kerala govt has come with the response and told SC that the norms were eased to address the distressing condition of the traders, who had stocked up for eid.
“With the economic slowdown haunting the traders, not allowing them to sell their stock during the festival would have dealt a crippling blow to their finances,” it said justifying the three-day relaxation of lockdown norms, which ends on Tuesday.
The state added that only limited relaxations have been given, while all Covid-19 protocols are being followed in the markets.
The Supreme Court on Monday sought the Kerala government’s response within 12 hours to the plea.
The state government out of political considerations has relaxed the Covid curbs for three days at a time when the SC is expressing serious reservations over Kanwar Yatra.
The association also said it was inappropriate on the part of the state government to issue such an order during a medical emergency when north Indian states such as Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand have canceled “with a constructive sense of public safety the traditional and popular pilgrimage Yatras”.
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