NEW DELHI, March 28 -- The Home Ministry on Saturday exempted agriculture and allied activities from the lockdown by issuing a second amendment to the guidelines issued under the Disaster Management Act.
The relaxation is to ensure uninterrupted harvesting of crops, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar announced here. He said this was done to ensure smooth harvesting and transportation of foodgrains to the Mandis (grain markets).
The Congress has been drawing attention of the government since the day the lockdown was clamped for 21 days to ensure the harvesting and procurement is not hit.
The exemptions granted under second addendum to the guidelines issued on March 24 are:
1. Agencies engaged in procurement of agriculture products...