Chennai: With its order stopping volunteers to give essentials and food to the needy during the lockdown period coming under severe criticism by opposition parties, the Tamilnadu government today issued a clarification.
“Volunteers are not prohibited from doing service. They have only been asked to work in association with the district administrations. This is to prevent the spread of coronavirus by maintaining social distancing while reaching out to the needy,” the government said.
As the corona positive cases in Tamilnadu kept increasing with each passing day and crossed the 1,000 mark, the State government on Sunday barred directed distribution of essentials by individuals, NGOs and political party functionaries to prevent spread of coronavirus pandemic.
In a statement here, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami also warned of legal action against them for violating the lockdown order in force.
He said at a time when the lockdown was in force to prevent Covid spread, some NGOs and others, under the guise of helping the people in some districts, were directly distributing cooked meals and essential items to the people.