G.O. (Ms.) No. 204, COVID-19 Amendment to Notification, 2020

What the notification does

G.O. (Ms.) No. 204 dated 23 April 2020, issued by the Government of Tamil Nadu, Revenue and Disaster Management (DM-II) Department, amends the COVID-19 lockdown notification in G.O. (Ms.) No. 172 dated 25 March 2020. The changes follow a clarification and exceptions issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, and a proposal from the Principal Secretary and Commissioner of Revenue Administration.

The Government had previously decided to extend the lockdown without change until 3 May 2020 and not use all relaxations available for rural areas and non-containment zones. The Government stated that further decisions would be taken by monitoring the situation and developments.

Care services covered

G.O. (Ms.) No. 204 replaces sub-clause (v) under Clause 13. The replacement allows the operation of:

• Homes for children.
• Homes for disabled or mentally challenged persons.
• Homes for senior citizens.
• Homes for destitute persons, women and widows.
• Bedside attendants.
• Caregivers assisting senior citizens in their homes.

The amendment therefore affects organisations operating these homes, their staff, home-based caregivers and the people receiving those services.

Activities added as exceptions

G.O. (Ms.) No. 204 adds three categories to the exceptions under Clause 4:

• All facilities in the supply chain of essential goods, including manufacturing, wholesale and retail operations conducted through local stores, large physical stores or e-commerce companies.
• Urban food-processing units such as bread factories, milk-processing plants, flour mills and dal mills.
• Export and import facilities, including pack houses and facilities for inspecting and treating seeds and horticultural produce.
• Research establishments dealing with agricultural and horticultural activities.

These provisions affect businesses, facilities and research establishments carrying out the listed activities during the lockdown.

Relevance to property and land matters

G.O. (Ms.) No. 204 is a COVID-19 operational notification, not a land ownership or land administration measure. It does not set out provisions on property title, registration, land classification, planning permission or change of land use. A property owner or occupier may still have been affected if premises were used for one of the permitted care, supply chain, export, import, agricultural or horticultural activities.