In view of migrant workers leaving for their home States following the COVID-19 pandemic, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Saturday called upon industries in Tamil Nadu to make use of native workers to avoid any dip in industrial production. The State government was “closely monitoring the changing times and it would announce more relaxations [from the lockdown] depending on the circumstances,” he said.
In this regard, the Tamil Nadu Skill Development Corporation was keen to join hands with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to impart necessary skill training to native workers, Mr. Palaniswami said during the inauguration of ‘Luminous Tamil Nadu’, a virtual meet, organised by the CII in Chennai.
Mr Palaniswami said the government would implement district-level reforms and further simplify procedures for obtaining various clearances from employment and local bodies’ departments.
The world economy has been extensively affected by the COVID-19 infection and this has resulted in several changes in our lifestyle, he said and pointed out that the wearing of masks, maintaining physical distancing and working from home for certain sectors have become the “new normal.”
The Chief Minister said he has instructed officials to focus primarily on four points -- to ensure industries adopt the new normal, attract new investments into the State, simplify government procedures and practices and simplify loan procedures to increase money circulation for businesses.
As a result of incentives announced for production and manufacturing of medicines and medical equipment in Tamil Nadu, several companies have commenced production of goods and are delivering across the country, he said.
He insisted that industries follow all safety norms. Elaborating on the steps taken by the State government in helping the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector under the COVID-19 Relief & Upliftment Scheme (CORUS), he said a capital subsidy of ₹120 crore has been granted to 955 companies.
Mr. Palaniswami also recalled the constitution of the Special Investment Promotion Task Force to attract investments from other countries shifting base to India, and the constitution of a panel under former RBI Governor C. Rangarajan to advise the State on the short and medium-term responses to COVID-19.
He also referred to the recent signing of Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) with 17 companies for investments to the tune of ₹15,128 crore and to provide employment to about 47,150 persons and his writing to CEOs of several prominent companies across the globe seeking investments.
