Days after the Tamil Nadu government has passed the order of permitting the fullest occupancy in the theaters based on the demands moved by actors Vijay, Simbu, and the Theaters Owners Association ahead of the Pongal holidays, the Central government has now taken the banner of castigating the state government's order, which slipped away from its notification. 

The Central government has instructed the state governments to permit 50% of seating capacity in the theaters owing to the COVID-19 outbreak and the theaters were subjected to adhere to the standard operating procedures during its operations. However, with Vijay starred 'Master' and Simbu starred 'Easwaran' are slated for release during Pongal, both the actors had demanded the government to permit 100% seating capacity in the theaters with the view of letting their large number of fans watch the movies on the big screens.

The actors had demanded along with the Theater Owners' Association to permit full occupancy following which the Tamil Nadu state government had passed the order of permitting 100% seating capacity in the theaters across the state ahead of Pongal. However, the Central government has now requested the state to follow the notifications issued by it. 

Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla has on Wednesday written to Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary Shanmugam in which he pressed that the capacities in theaters and multiplexes outside containment zones are set at 50%. The Tamil Nadu government has, however, permitted to increase the seating capacity of the theaters and multiplexes from the existing 50% capacity to 100% by following the Standard Operating Procedures. 

The Union Home Secretary said that the state government's order has amounted to dilution of the order issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs on December 28, 2020, under the Disaster Management Act 2005. Ajay Bhalla has requested the Tamil Nadu government to immediately issue an order to bring the state's order in line with the guidelines issued by the Home Ministry. 

The Central government has also advised the state and union territories to invoke the guidelines without diluting them. The Union Home Secretary said that the state must strictly adhere to the COVID-19 guidelines. Following the banner of castigation from the Center, the state government has been surfaced with fresh trouble to decide on whether or not to go by its decision of permitting fullest occupancy in the theaters. 

On Wednesday, Tamil Nadu Minister for Information and Publicity Kadambur Raju said that the state government will be deciding on the Center's request accordingly. While the Tamil Nadu government had relished the fans and theaters by permitting the fullest occupancy in the theaters ahead of the Pongal festival, the government has also been surfaced with massive flak from the health experts who raised objections against the order.  

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami had passed the order after actors Vijay and Simbu had demanded him to allow the fullest occupancy ahead of the release of their movies. Vijay's much-anticipated movie 'Master' will be releasing on January 13 while Simbu's 'Easwaran' will be hitting the screens on January 14 across the state. ICMR Health Expert Prabhdeep Kaur, who advises the Tamil Nadu government in containing the COVID-19 spread, said, "Closed spaces without social distancing are perfect settings for the explosive spread of COVID19. Request public to avoid such settings". 

She further tweeted, "COVID-19 risk multiplies with each risk factor - indoors, poor ventilation, more time spent, crowding, speaking/ shouting and lack of mask - cumulative effect means red zone - the highest chance of spread of COVID19". With the massive objections from the Center and health experts, the Tamil Nadu government is now levied with the challenge of balancing the demands from the actors and concerns from the Center.