Total lockdown has led to work from home option catching on in IT, ITES and even a number of corporate companies. However, for the Micro, Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (MSMEs) in the manufacturing sector, all activities have come to a standstill.
According to K.V. Karthik, president of Southern India Engineering Manufacturers’ Association, there is less than 5 % administration work at MSMEs in the manufacturing sector. If there is no revenue generating activity, there is no income. Hence, there is nothing much that can be done by the staff from home. Work from home option cannot apply to manufacturing units, he said.
R. Ramamoorthy, former president of Coimbatore District Small Industries Association, said that it is not possible for small and micro units to take up any work if the industries are shutdown. Now, with the units remaining idle, there is no income. But, they have to pay wages to workers and industries. Hence, the central government should extend moratorium for repayment of loans and interest, he said.
The government should also add oxygen beds at the Covid Care Centre at CODISSIA Trade Fair complex so that more people who need oxygen support can be treated. This will help reduce the deaths, he said.
At Tiruppur, the exporting and domestic knitwear units say that men and machines are essential for any significant activity to go on.
There can be a few office work that can be done from home. However, these will be taken up only when the garments are produced. “We are working for multiple seasons in the western markets. It is a design driven industry and the western markets are dynamic. So, the units have to get operational at the earliest,” said Raja M. Shanmugham, president of Tiruppur Exporters’ Association.