Punjab government concedes to industrialists’ wish, gives relaxation in curbs

LUDHIANA: Conceding to the demands of the industrialists, the state government has given a big relief to the shops dealing in industrial supplies, including hardware items, tools, motors, pipes. In an order issued on Tuesday, the additional chief secretary said the industrialists dealing in such products have been given permission to open their shops and cater to the requirements of the factories.
According to the order, some other categories of shops — fertilisers, seeds, insecticides, pesticides, agriculture machinery, agriculture & horticulture implements, kirana and grocery shops, including PDS stores— too have been allowed to open. Besides, retail and wholesale liquor vends have also been allowed to open, but as per the order, all these categories of shops and establishments can operate till 5pm only and will not be allowed to operate during the weekend lockdown.
Notably, several industrialists had written to the chief minister, demanding exemption to the industrial supplies shops from new curbs, on the ground that without these shops, factories will not be able to function. Meanwhile, they felt relieved after Tuesday’s development and said the factories won’t face any issues related to supply of raw material and consumables.
D S Chawla, president of United Cycle and Parts Manufacturers Association, said, “We are thankful to chief minister Amarinder Singh and minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu for accepting our demand and allowing shops and establishments dealing in industrial raw material, hardware items, tools, motors, pipes etc to resume operations. This will now help run the factories without any problem, as all the daily requirements ranging from nut-bolts, oil, tool, bits will be supplied from shops dealing in these items.”
Jagbir Singh Sokhi, president of Sewing Machine Development Club, said, “This is good decision taken by the state government. Though the shops dealing in the industrial supplies should have been exempted from Day 1, not much time has been lost. And we don’t have any issue with the decision to allow these shops to open only for five days a week and till 5pm.”
Vipul Gupta, a trader dealing in industrial supplies, said, “We are thankful to the state government for granting us permission to operate our businesses. Due to closure of our shop, we had been feeling helpless as we had been flooded with calls from factory owners requesting us to fulfil their orders or else their operations will be disrupted.”