Several industries are breathing easy with the Centre announcing guidelines for relaxation of lockdown for certain categories after April 20. They hope that it will mitigate the suffering of the working class and start the process to put the economy back on track.
The conditional relaxation will not only benefit units located in the Special Economic Zones such as the Visakhapatnam SEZ, AP SEZ, Jawaharlal Nehru Pharma City and IT SEZ but also save several small-scale industries from the brink of closure.
Social distancing
The guidelines may not have much impact on the process units such as the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant and HPCL-Visakh Refinery as they are managing production by deploying minimal staff.
“We are adhering to the social distancing norm and screening the workforce at the workplace regularly to prevent spread of the COVID-19 pandemic,” informs an official.
According to VSEZ Development Commissioner A. Ram Mohan Reddy, 241 units in SEZ and export-oriented units (EoUs) in VSEZ are not operational as on date.
“With the guidelines circulated by the Ministry of Home Affairs, all these units will become operational,” he told The Hindu on Wednesday.
Under Para 15(ii), the SEZ and EoUs are permitted to work after following the standard operating procedure (SOP) and arranging dedicated transport by ensuring social distancing.
Rule 18 (ii) allows the VSEZ office to become operational with 100% attendance from the Joint Development Commissioner and above and other staff up to one-third functional on rotational basis as per requirement.
“This relaxation will enable all limping units to start functioning to some extent,” he said.
CEO of Jawaharlal Nehru Pharma City, Parawada, P.P. Lal Krishna, said the units in the zone were already functioning with skeletal staff by granting many the work from home facility. “Now, with relaxation of guidelines, many may be asked to work from office as per conditions stipulated by the Centre,” he said.
Visakha Autonagar SSI Welfare Association president A.K. Balaji said the guidelines would help revive the economy and provide livelihood to the local skilled and unskilled workers. The manufacturing sector would also give more employment to migrant labour, easing their suffering.
Word of caution
Vizagapatam Chamber of Commerce & Industry executive member A.V. Monish Row welcomed resumption of economic activity, and sought its implementation on scientific basis. “Otherwise, any spike will lead to another lockdown in a few months, making the problem a much bigger one,” he said.
