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Covid-19: On day 1, confusion in Delhi for curfew passes to cross borders
New Delhi
New Delhi
The Delhi Police’s directive asking providers of essential services to get “curfew passes” to enter the city sparked chaos and confusion at district police offices on Tuesday, a day after the order was issued to tighten curbs on movement imposed in the wake of the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) .
Several people came with applications that were not typed in their company’s letterheads, triggering fresh problems. Then there were applicants who could not produce identity proofs, as sought by the police.
All border posts would be sealed for everyone except people heading in for essential goods and services, according to the order, which gave businesses engaged in such services less than a day’s window to apply for the passes.
After several rounds of heated exchange, officials at office of the deputy commissioner of police (DCP), East, in IP Extension started accepting applications on plain paper around 2pm. Along with it, they asked for documents to prove that applicants were part of essential service providers.
The curfew passes for essential service providers based in Noida and Ghaziabad are being issued at the DCP East office. Since morning, 50-60 people had gathered there; many of them were not aware of the formalities they had to follow to get the passes.
Two nodal officers stationed at the main gate were seen addressing the queries of the people assembled there. While they were able to respond to the basic queries, they couldn’t satisfactorily answer whether private doctors not associated with any hospitals and pharmacists not having their profession-related ID proofs would get the passes.
“I own a warehouse of grocery and sanitary items in Noida, and supply such items to various stores in Delhi-NCR. I came to the DCP office to get the curfew passes for my staffers and myself. But the policemen asked me to give an application on a letterhead. I don’t have any letter pad of my warehouse. They are not accepting application on plain paper. The police should have clarified the requirement of letterheads in the order itself,” said Ankur Aggarwal.
Sanjeev Rastogi, who deals in the food supply, said: “Many of my employees sent their IDs and photos on WhatsApp. But the policemen need photocopies of the ID and photos for the passes. No photocopy shops or photo studios are open. Where should we go to get the work done.”
About the initial confusion, DCP (East) Jasmeet Singh said, “We have been regularly briefing our staff about the issues which the people are bringing to our notice. All the issues are being addressed properly and resolved. There are still issues which are personal and cannot be resolved.”
Another police officer, who did not want to be named, said the initial confusion prevailed because there was no clarity on the issuing of passes, requisite documents and who all should be covered under it.
“In the morning, we were asked to only accept application on the company’s letterhead. Many people such as pharmacists, food delivery riders, shopkeepers, and persons dealing in essential services did not have letterheads. They were asked to go back. As we brought this matter to our seniors’ notice, they instructed us to accept applications on plain papers but with documents proving their services. By afternoon, a majority of the issues were resolved,” the officer said.
“We have begun issuing curfew passes. Around 50 passes have been issued till 4pm,” said DCP Singh.
At south-east DCP office in Sarita Vihar — from where essential service providers of this district and those with offices in Faridabad — were supposed to collect their passes, the process of collecting applications began only around 2.30pm because senior police officers were busy handling the Shaheen Bagh protest site, where agitators were evicted.
Dozens of applicants began to assemble since morning, though, and had to wait for three-four hours.
When the police finally put up posters about the requirements for issuing the passes, many applicants found out that they wouldn’t make the cut. Many of applicants didn’t bring photocopies of their identity proofs and their photographs, and they didn’t know who to approach.
“Even if we manage to get photocopies from any shop that is currently open, from where do we procure photographs?” asked an applicant, Mohammad Arif, who works for a bank.
The police permitted the applicants to submit additional documents by 6pm and informed them that the passes will be issued on Wednesday. “The policeman at the desk was kind enough to share with me his phone number if I had any queries,” said Bhanu Singh, another applicant.
The police took down the phone numbers of all applicants to communicate to them about the status of their passes.
At the office of the DCP South -- which was providing passes for Gurugram -- the collection of the applications was swifter even as applicants were informed that they would receive their passes either by late Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning.
“My office colleagues advised me to get a curfew pass or a written permission from the police so that I face no obstruction on my way to the airport,” said Shravan Kumar, who planned to catch a flight to his hometown in Hyderabad on Tuesday evening.
