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J&K admn allows home delivery of bakery items on Eid, to hold training session for bakers
Amid the coronavirus enforced lockdown, Eid celebrations in Kashmir will be a simple affair.
Amid the coronavirus enforced lockdown, Eid celebrations in Kashmir will be a simple affair.
The administration has allowed home delivery of bakery items in Srinagar in the run-up Eid falling by the end of this month.
The administration has started giving training to bakers to sensitise them about precautions they need to follow for personal safety, production and home distribution of the bakeries to households.
This is the first step as part of the month-long plan to give training to some 10,000 service providers like vegetable sellers, milk suppliers, hairdressers, laundry, public transport, and telecommunications aimed at a ‘guarded exit’ from the ongoing lockdown.
On Friday, the Srinagar administration launched a two-week-long training programme for various service providers and the first module of the training was meant for more than 500 workers of around 180 bakeries in Srinagar city.
“The existence of coronavirus pandemic is a reality and that people will have to learn to live with it, though following all precautions is crucial,” said Srinagar deputy commissioner Shahid Iqbal Choudhary while launching the module.
Choudhary said all main services providers will be trained about precautions, hygiene, social distancing and other notified protocols during the programme.
A government spokesperson said that the bakery sector has been chosen for opening in view of the upcoming Eid festival and the bakers will be tested for Covid-19 before being allowed to proceed.
Eid-ul-Fitr falls on May 24 or 25 depending on the appearance of the moon and people are expected to celebrate it indoors owing to the lockdown which was imposed mid-March to contain the spread of Covid-19. The number of Covid-19 cases has crossed the 1000-mark with 11 deaths in the Union territory.
This is the second time that Eid is being celebrated under lockdown in Kashmir. Last year, it was when the special status of the UT was revoked in August and the region put under restrictions.
President Bakers and Confectioners Association, Omar Mukhtar said that the administration will train workers of around 421 of their registered units across the Valley of which some 180 are in Srinagar.
“All our happy moments are incomplete without bakery. It is our tradition and we are happy that we have been allowed to home deliver on Eid,” he said.
Every year, Kashmiris consume around ₹5 crore worth bakery products on Eid every year besides the daily consumption.
Mukhtar said that every bakery unit has been asked to maintain a minimum number of workers in a safe and hygienic framework and they will be reducing their production. “We will be producing some one-third of what we used to produce during normal days,” he said.
Bakers have been instructed to only sell packed products and to avoid loose bakery items. The units have to cater to their own localities only within a radius of 3-4 km.
The training modules for service providers include a range of aspects including training certificates to participants, PPE kits, protective gear, Covid-19 tests, specially designed service tokens, movement passes, IT apps and online facilitation.
