CII wants Modi govt to add more sectors to exempted list, remove criminal charge threat
New Delhi: The Indian industry has sought greater operational clarity, removal of red tape and threat of penal charges as it looks to restart operations after nearly a month of the Covid-19 lockdown.
The lobby group Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) submitted a series of suggestions to the central government on the implementation of guidelines issued by the home affairs ministry. The ministry had last week detailed criteria under which certain industries could begin operations on 20 April.
The CII sought greater clarity on how firms can resume operations, arrange travel passes for their employees and other requisite permissions.
It also sought expansion of the home ministry list to include more industries like automobiles, meat processing industry and export oriented units.
No interference from states
The industry demanded that no specific permission be required from state governments to start manufacturing activities in the permitted list. It further sought that state authorities be informed of the same through email. The CII also asked for a more lenient approach while dealing with industrial
“Local administrations are insisting that there will be criminal charges on the establishments, with order for three months shutdown, if anyone in the establishment is found to be testing positive. Establishments can be held responsible for violating spatial or sanitary norms, but not if someone in the company gets Covid-19,” suggested CII.
The industry body also sought that e-commerce companies be allowed to deliver both essential as well as non-essential commodities. After the Centre announced guidelines for the relaxed lockdown, there had been some confusion on whether e-commerce companies could deliver non-essentials. On Sunday, the MHA clarified they couldn’t.
In its battle against the Covid-19 pandemic, the Narendra Modi government had imposed a three-week lockdown (25 March to 14 April), and then extended it until 3 May. However, in order to get economic activity back on track, the government allowed resumption of certain manufacturing activities from 20 April.
The CII flagged that some manufacturing units in certain cities were unable to re-start operations as they did not strictly fall under the definition of an 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,” CII said.
Workers living close to the industrial estate should be allowed to walk or bicycle to work and back, it added. The body further sought that the condition to provide accommodation within the industrial premises or adjacent to it be relaxed to include distances of upto 10 kilometres.
Obtaining passes for employees/permits for transportation have proven to be a challenge in virtually all cities, the CII said, listing cities such as Lucknow, Indore, Bhiwandi, Pune, Jammu, Guwahati, Patna, Ranchi, Kolkata and Siliguri.
The print
