Entrepreneurs from various sectors in Visakhapatnam, the industrial hub of the State, have justified the decision by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to extend nationwide lockdown up to May 3 saying life and safety of individuals is of paramount importance.
At the same time, many expressed anguish at heavy losses suffered by them due to loss of operations in the wake of lockdown and sought some sort of intervention in the form of doling out of sops or giving a tax holiday and exempting from payment of provident fund and ESI for sometime.
When The Hindu contacted, CII Vizag zone chairman J. Srinivasa Raju favoured graded relaxation while enforcing lockdown as everyone had to reorient priorities following COVID-19 crisis. He said revival of economy could not be done in one day and it needed action in a phased manner.
Visakhapatnam Stevedores’ Association president K. Krishna Kumar said the port which handled 72.72 million tonne during 2019-20 occupying third position among major ports, had suffered a lot during the first phase of lockdown. “At lease now they should declare force majeure exempting the users from payment of demurrage and contractual obligations,” he said.
National Association of Container Freight Station vice-president G. Sambasiva Rao said health of denizens was very important. At the same time, the economy needs to be revived for which he sought support from the government in the form of absorbing PF and ESI contributions to be given by the employers at least for three months. He said the vital players in supply chain management should be classified as exempted from lockdown with some conditions.
IT Association of AP (ITAAP) president R.L. Narayana said the government should allow at least 3 to 5% of staff drafted for critical areas of operations in IT industry to go to their workstations. He also wanted a tax holiday for sometime to help them recover from heavy losses suffered by them due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Visakha Autonagar Small-Scale Industries Welfare Association president A.K. Balaji said as they were the major employment generators, they should be allowed to revive their operations in phases during the second phase of lockdown.