Allow operations of all firms which can follow social distancing: Industry body

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SME Times News Bureau | 22 Apr, 2020
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Tuesday asked the government to allow any establishment to operate during the lockdown period, which can follow social distancing, based on self-certification by the firms.

In a note of suggestions to the Centre, the industry body has also urged the Home Ministry to clarify that mention in its guidelines that no specific permission would be required from the state government or local authorities to start manufacturing activities in the permitted list.

The firm should be required to only inform the relevant authorities through an email, it said, noting that the state government or local authorities would be flooded with an excessive volume of applications, which would create delay in kick-starting the economic activities.

Mentioning that Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) guidelines allow IT and IT-enabled services with 50 per cent strength, the CII note said: "Any establishment that can fulfill this stipulation should be allowed. It should be on self certification."

It further said that there is a need to clarify that the new guidelines merely provide "select additional activities" that will be permitted from April 20 and do not in any manner restrict activities that were already permitted under the existing guidelines, unless such permitted activity or establishment falls within a notified containment zone.

Currently, the guidelines allow the operations of select agricultural and related activities such as plantations of tea, coffee, rubber, fisheries and animal husbandry, among others. Manufacture, processing, packaging, sales marketing, warehousing and any commercial establishments dealing in any 'packaged food and beverages' should also be allowed, it said.

"This is in line with the advisory of the Secretary, Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI), dated 26th March, regarding the need for continued functioning of food industry and their suppliers."

It further said that in continuation to the operation of the animal husbandry sector, meat processing industry, based on sheep, goat, buffalo, including the transportation from farms and markets, leading to processing, packaging, cold chain, sale and marketing by APEDA registered abattoirs, meat processing factories, rendering plants, ETPs and workers for all these activities, should also be allowed.

Regarding the much talked about subject of sale of non-essential goods on e-commerce platforms, the industry is of the view that the norms should be amended to clarify that e-commerce companies for both essential as well as non-essential commodities are allowed.

In its recommendations, CII also said that some of the manufacturing units in certain cities are unable to re-start operations as they do not strictly fall under the definition of Industrial town.

"For instance, Jamshedpur Industrial town falls under the jurisdiction of Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee. Provision should be modified to permit manufacturing in such industrial areas as well."

Among other suggestions, it also suggested that if a worker at a factory or plant tests positive of novel coronavirus, the whole plant should not be shut, but rather strict protocols should be followed there.