Weekend Curfew in Karnataka: Karnataka govt likely to lift weekend curfew | Hubballi News – Times of India

BENGALURU: The government, under mounting pressure from people’s representatives and the business community, is likely to withdraw weekend curfew and reduce night curfew by an hour.
Chief minister Basavaraj Bommai indicated as much on Wednesday when he said since hospitalisation numbers are low due to the non-severity of the third wave, people are of the opinion that the pandemic can be contained simply by adhering to Covid-appropriate behaviour. Restrictions are, therefore, unnecessary. About 95% of active cases are in home isolation.
“We’ll convey this sentiment to the experts committee, and we will take a call on whether to continue with restrictions based on their advice,” Bommai told reporters. The CM is scheduled to meet members of the Covid-19 task force and Technical Advisory Committee on Friday where he is expected to announce a decision.
The government had imposed night curfew from December 28 and weekend curfew from January 7 after daily cases surged in the first week of January. As per an earlier decision, weekend curfew was to end on January 19.
The business community and the people working in unorganised sectors , whose livelihoods have been affected by the restrictions, had vociferously opposed weekend curfew. Hoteliers and bar owners had wanted night curfew to kick in an hour later — at 11pm rather than 10pm. A delegation of hoteliers met the CM last week in this connection.
Many MLAs and MPs of the ruling party had opposed these curbs. RDPR minister KS Eshwarappa was the first to object to weekend curfew, claiming it would affect livelihoods of the working and business classes. Since then, opposition has only grown with Union parliamentary affairs minister Prahlad Joshi saying the government should reconsider. Even on Wednesday Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha questioned the rationale behind imposing weekend curfew.
This has put the government in a dilemma since cases are rising on the one hand while the demand to ease restrictions is g rowin g on the other.