As the Central government had, on Saturday, written to the Chief Secretaries of all the states and Union Territories to lift the ban on the inter and intra-state movements of people and goods and repeal the mandatory requirement of e-pass and approval from the government, speculations have been surfaced around the Tamil Nadu government on revoking the e-pass requirement with the opposition parties demanding to the government to take a call of withdrawing the e-pass system. 

On Saturday, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla had written to the states and Union Territories requesting them to follow the Center's guidelines of Unlock 3, which was rolled out on August 1 and which had lifted the restrictions of inter and intra-state movements of people and goods. However, some of the major states, including Tamil Nadu, had kept the restrictions and requirement of approvals and e-pass in place for the movements between and within the states to limit and monitor the movements in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. 

By highlighting that such restrictions of the state would amount for the violation of the Center's guidelines, which was issued by the Home Ministry under provisions of the Disaster Management Act 2005. The Union Home Secretary stated that the local-level restrictions on inter and intra-state movement of people and goods have been impacting supply chains nationwide causing a disruption of economic activity and causing unemployment. 

The Home Secretary stated that the guidelines clearly state that there shall be no restrictions on the inter-state and intra-state movement of people and goods and he also said that there should be no requirement of separate permission, approval or e-permit, and e-pass from the state governments for movement of people and goods. Ajay Bhalla has requested the state governments to lift the restrictions imposed in its territories in the wake of the pandemic and called the governments to ensure to follow the guidelines issued by the Home Ministry. 

Following the development, it has been highly speculated that the states which have the restrictions on the movements would lift those restrictions and ease the movements of people and goods. Speaking about the center's circular, senior Tamil Nadu Minister Jayakumar said that the state government would make a final decision on the circular after discussing the matter with the concerned authorities and the medical expert team. 

By citing the circular as the policy decision that the Center has written to the states, Jayakumar stated that the Chief Minister will be deciding and taking a final call based on the COVID-19 situation and the discussions with the concerned stakeholders. According to the reports, following the Center's circular, the Puducherry government has, on Sunday, announced that it would lift all the restrictions imposed on the movements of the people and goods based on the circular, becoming the first administration in South India to relax the restrictions. 

On Sunday, Tamil Nadu Opposition Leader and DMK President MK Stalin had urged the state government to revoke the mandatory requirement of e-pass for inter and intra-state movements. However,  the state government is yet to issue its order on whether or not to repeal the mandated requirement that has been in place for over four months. Though the Tamil Nadu government had poured major relaxations from last week by stating that every one those who apply for e-pass will be granted with the pass for intra-state travels, it has kept the requirement of e-pass and the existing restrictions for people who returned to the state from other states. 

On Monday, Tamil Nadu Revenue Minister RB Udhayakumar hinted that the Chief Minister has been reviewing to repeal the e-pass system from the state as per the guidelines of the Central government. The reports say that Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami will be convening a meet with senior authorities sometime this week to discuss and review the impact of removing the restrictions as advised by the Center, as the state has been bracing up with the grounds of the rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The development has come when India has crossed the tally of three million COVID-19 cases, third highest in the world after the United States and Brazil. India has reported 31,06,349 total cases so far as of Monday morning of which 23,38,035 have been discharged and 57,542 had succumbed to the viral infection. According to the latest reports, Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary Shanmugam will be convening a virtual meet with the district collectors on Monday concerning the center's circular on removing the restrictions and the COVID-19 situation in the districts.

Must-read: Lift all the restrictions on inter and intra-state movements: Center asks states to follow Unlock 3