COVID-19 lockdown: Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra government on Friday instructed all the landlords and house owners in the state to postpone rent collection by at least three months to help those whose income has been affected due to coronavirus lockdown. In a notice, the Maharashtra State Housing Department has also asked the landlords not to evict tenants due to non-payment for next three months.
Sharing the notice on Twitter, the Chief Minister’s Office said: “Maharashtra State Housing Department has issued instructions to landlords and house owners to postpone rent collection by at least three months. During this period, no tenant should be evicted from the rented house due to non-payment of rent.”
Maharashtra is the worst-hit state with the highest number of positive cases of Coronavirus. So far, the state has reported over 3200 cases and 194 deaths.
The outbreak of Coronavirus has brought all the economic and other activities to a naught, affecting the income of millions of people in all sectors. Among the worst hit are daily wage workers and those who are associated with unorganised sectors. Keeping this in mind, several state governments have instructed the schools not to collect fees for at least three months.
Earlier this week, Madhya Pradesh’s Chhindwara District Collector asked the education officer to ensure that no government or non-government institutes collect fees for the months of March and April. He also said that no institutes should be allowed to collect fees for the smart classes that they are providing during teh COVID-19 lockdown.
A similar order was passed by Noida DM Suhas LY on April 5. He too had directed the educational institutions not to force parents of students for fees during the lockdown. Suhas had made it clear that any violation will invite legal action under the National Disaster Management Act, 2005.
Soon after the lockdown was announced, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had also urged the landlords to not harass the tenants for rent. He said that if some tenants did not pay their rents, then the state government would do.
