PANAJI
Goa entered its officially declared 'lockdown' mode at 10 pm on Thursday but the State government came in for severe criticism for laxity in the nitty-gritties in the orders issued by the respective district magistrates of North and South Goa.
The 'lockdown' is slated to be in force until 6 am on Monday morning.
Cabinet Minister Michael Lobo was among the first to flag the laxity in the 'Lockdown' rules on Thursday saying the curbs appear to be "name-sake" and said he would talk to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and other officials to tighten the screws.
Lobo said, with shops and establishments permitted to stay open among several other businesses, it will hardly be an effective lockdown.
According to the official orders, all essential services will be operational as will shops and establishments except in the nightly hours between 9 pm and 6 am.
The orders also permit functioning of industries, factories government offices and PSUs, local bodies, medical and health facilities and activities linked to agriculture, construction, groceries, eateries, hotels, telecommunication and internet services, banks, insurance, ATMs, petrol pumps, LPG cylinder services and the the print and electronic media.
Fish markets and other markets have also been permitted to operate.
Social media meanwhile was agog with critique of the State government's lockdown order and creative memes began going viral since early Thursday. One such meme described the 'lockdown' to be more of a four-nights-three-days 'honeymoon package'.
Netizens were also critical on social media platforms of some hoteliers advertising offers of 'lockdown packages'.
One of the reasons why the Sawant-led government delayed imposing a lockdown in the face of frighteningly steep surges in Covid-19 deaths and new infections was its perceived negative impact on the tourism sector, seen as perhaps the only economic activity in Goa to be growing after the pandemic's crippling economic outcome.
