Retailers’ body wants Maharashtra govt to relax rule allowing only those with both vaccine doses

The industry body said that since most of the staff working in malls are between 20-45 years, they are yet to get fully vaccinated.

Citing difficulty in meeting the clauses in the Maharashtra government’s order allowing malls and restaurants to remain open till 10pm, the Retailers Association of India (RAI) has sought modifications.

RAI asked for a change in clause that mandates only staffers who have taken both doses of vaccines to be allowed to work in malls. The industry body said that since most of the staff working in malls are between 20-45 years, they are yet to get fully vaccinated.

The state government Wednesday allowed further relaxation in the lockdown restrictions by allowing opening of malls and extending timings for restaurants operation. For malls, even the visitors will be allowed to enter the premises only if they have got both their doses and have at least 14 days have passed after the second dose.

“The notification on reopening malls and allowing stores and restaurants to stay open till late is a welcome move. The long pending decision was essential to help people get their jobs back and save their livelihoods. However, it is impractical to have only those staff who have taken both their doses as most of them are in the 20-45 years age bracket and could not get fully vaccinated. How can malls resume operations without its people? We hope the government rethinks the conditions and modifies the order,” said RAI CEO Kumar Rajagopalan in a press statement issued Thursday.

Meanwhile, the restaurants’ body has welcomed the government move of allowing them to open till 10pm instead of 4pm. Restaurants can be operational at 50% capacity.

“The hospitality industry thanks Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and the Covid-19 task force for easing the restrictions. Restaurants will now be able to make some business which was impossible while operating until 4pm. The industry, including owners and people employed in it, has suffered for over sixteen months of income deprivation,” said Sherry Bhatia, president, Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI).

He said, “We were hoping that since restaurants continue to operate at only 50% capacity, the government could have allowed us to remain open till midnight. However, the CM has kept his promise and we welcome this move and expect more relaxations soon. The industry assures the government that it will continue to follow all the SOPs and Covid safety protocols stringently,” said Bhatia in a statement.

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