Amid the speculations and expectations that were surfaced around the Tamil Nadu government over the restrictions and relaxations for September while containing the spread of the COVID-19, the state government has poured major relaxations unprecedently as part of the process of unlocking the lockdown. On Sunday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami has announced the fresh guidelines for the state to sail through September. 

The following services are relaxed from September:

• As per the guidelines, the state government has repealed the e-pass system entirely for the intra-state movements of people from September 1st and the people traveling inside the state are free to move within the state with no e-pass whereas people who are entering Tamil Nadu from other regions -both rest of India and abroad through all the transportation channels must apply and obtain the e-pass before entering the state. 
• The government has eased the process of acquiring e-pass and people who are applying for e-pass would be required to feed their Aadhaar and contact number in the government's portal and the e-pass will be provided immediately through the auto-generated method. The withdrawal of the e-pass system has been considered as the significant relaxation by the state government to pull out the state from the entire ambit of the lockdown. 
• Along with repealing the e-pass system for the intra-state movement, the Tamil Nadu government has permitted the resumption of all the religious places and places of worship, and devotees are allowed to offer prayers. The guidelines said that the government would be providing the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in this regard and the SOP would be limiting the number of people visiting the religious places and people would be allowed to worship till 8 pm across the state. 
• The government has also permitted the intra-district public and private transports from September 1st. The guidelines stated that the public and private transports within the districts would be allowed based on the SOPs. Through the guidelines, it can be learned that the inter-districts public and private transports will remain suspended. The government has also banned the passenger train services till September 15, except for the services that are currently in operation. 
• The state government has permitted the Metro rail services in Chennai from September 7 and the government would be issuing the  SOPs concerning the resumption of metro trains. One of the major relaxations is the government has permitted the resumption of shopping malls, showrooms, and big format stores with 100% manpower by adhering to the Center's SOPs. However, the cinema halls in the shopping malls would remain closed. 
• The shops in Chennai and across the state would be allowed to function till 8 pm and the eateries and tea stalls are permitted to function with the existing directives issued by the government and these establishments are allowed to function from 6 am to 8 pm for dine-in services and they can continue offering parcel services till 9 pm.  
• The industries and IT companies are permitted to function with 100% of manpower from September 1. However, the government has appealed to the IT companies to encourage the employees to work from home, which has become a new normal. The hotels with lodging, resorts, and recreational clubs are allowed to function based on the Standard Operating Procedures. Gyms and all parks and stadiums are allowed to open while people aren't allowed to watch the games in the stadiums. 
• The government said that all the government offices across the state will be functioning with 100% of the workforce from September 1st and the banks and other financial institutions will also be allowed to resume with 100% manpower. One of the major relaxations front includes the withdrawal of the complete lockdown on Sundays and there would be no complete lockdown on Sundays from September. 

General restrictions:

• The curfew imposed under section 144 would be in place across the state and it prohibits the unlawful assembly of more than five people. Strict lockdown would be observed in all the containment zones with the existing regulations and protocols. No relaxations will be provided for the containment zones and essential services would only be allowed in these zones. 

The following services will be restricted until further orders:

• The schools, colleges, research, and other educational institutions will remain closed and these establishments would encourage the online-learning. 
• Theaters, Cinema Halls, swimming pools, Entertainment and Amusement parks, beaches, zoological parks, museums, and tourist spots will remain shut down until further orders. 
• Sub-urban trains will be banned and the international flights would also be prohibited except the flights that are permitted by the Home Ministry. All sorts of religious, cultural, political, entertainment, social, educational, and congregations will continue to be banned across the state. 

In the notification, the Chief Minister appealed to the people to extend their co-operation to the government in curbing the COVID-19 viral infection and asked to adhere to the guidelines and regulations prescribed by the state government. As we reported earlier, the government has lifted the ban on the intra-district public and private transports as the state is driving towards restoring normalcy of how it was before the state stuck by the COVID-19 outbreak.

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