The West Bengal government on Monday said the sweet shops in the state will be allowed to operate for a duration of 4 hours during the 21-day lockdown period.
As per reports, the sweet shops will be allowed to remain open from 12 noon to 4 pm each day from Tuesday onwards.
However, the shops should operate with minimum staff during the lockdown period.
According to a government order, the shops will only be available to take away and packed items.
Sweetmeat shops/mithai shops may remain open during the (lockdown) period from 12 noon to 4 pm each day with the minimum number of staff only for take away and packed items,” the order stated.
The move to open sweet shops came after an association of sweetmakers known as Paschimbanga Mistanna Byabasayi Samiti wrote to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee stating that thousands of litres of milk were being wasted due to a halt in operations.
Although the government order was appreciated by the sweetmakers, many of them are in the opinion that the allotted time needs a relook as a business is likely to be sparse in that time span.