Maharashtra may allow industries to resume work except in MMR\, Pune

Maharashtra may allow industries to resume work except in MMR, Pune

Industries Minister Subhash Desai said he had asked officials to prepare the proposal “[e]xcluding the areas of Mumbai and Pune which have highest number of corona positive cases... for allowing the industries to start their operations with some restrictions in the rest of the districts of the state”.

Written by Vishwas Waghmode | Mumbai | Updated: April 14, 2020 4:28:41 am
coronavirus outbreak, india lockdown, Maharashtra lockdown extension, Maharashtra news, indian express news The lockdown extension order, signed by Chief Secretary Ajoy Mehta, does not refer to relaxation for industries, stating only that orders passed on March 25 “shall now be extended up to and inclusive of 30th April, 2020”. (Representational Image)

Even as the state government issued an order on Monday extending the lockdown in Maharashtra until April 30, it is also considering allowing industries to resume operations except in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and Pune — the two places with the highest COVID-19 cases in the state.

The lockdown extension order, signed by Chief Secretary Ajoy Mehta, does not refer to relaxation for industries, stating only that orders passed on March 25 “shall now be extended up to and inclusive of 30th April, 2020”.

But Industries Minister Subhash Desai, who took a review meeting on the state of industries in Maharashtra on Monday, asked industry department officials to prepare a proposal on how this resumption should take place. Permission for resumption will be given with the caveat that the industrial units make arrangements for housing workers on the premises or in the same or adjoining villages.

A senior official said the state government is also waiting for direction from the Union government on allowing industries to reopen. “The Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has suggested a comprehensive list of industries to allow their operations to the Ministry of Home Affairs. If we receive the guidelines with the list, we will just replicate it in the state,” said the bureaucrat.

In a statement, Desai said he had asked officials to prepare the proposal “[e]xcluding the areas of Mumbai and Pune which have highest number of corona positive cases… for allowing the industries to start their operations with some restrictions in the rest of the districts of the state”.

The industries minister has further asked the department to give priority to food processing units, which would help farmers sell their produce. The units that resume functioning should be able to provide employment including to contract workers, said Desai, adding that all these plans would be put before Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray for final approval.

Government sources said that all essential and non-essential industries may be allowed to operate with restrictions. “Some of the restrictions on industries will include maintaining social distancing measures and housing workers in industrial areas or in the same or nearby villages of the unit as a precautionary measure to prevent the spreading of the coronavirus,” said an official.

“The government is looking at districts with zero cases, or those that have one case, for allowing resumption of industrial operations. In districts that have corona positive cases within municipal limits, we plan to lockdown that particular area and may allow industrial operations in the rest of the district,” added the bureaucrat. The sources also said the industrial operations may be allowed without putting any restrictions on the capacity of manpower to be used in the industrial units. “There is already a shortage of industrial labour. If we put restrictions on the size of the manpower, it will create difficulties for the industries,” said another official.