The Gujarat Government Intends To Continue This Trend Of Staggered Reopening Of Industries: Principal Secretary Manoj Das

The outbreak of COVID-19 is one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century. Today, when nations across the globe are hit by this global pandemic, resulting in crippled finances and loss of human life, India, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has become a model of pro-active governance and approach in combating one of the biggest threats to humankind in the last 100 years. 

A nationwide lockdown was implemented by the Prime Minister from 24th March, 2020 to 14th April, 2020. The aim of the lockdown was, “  Jaan hai toh Jahan Hai” i.e “ The world exists if I exist”. After a careful examination, PM Modi decided to extend the lockdown till 3rd May, 2020. This time, the Prime Minister’s motto was “ Jaan bhi Jahan Bhi” i.e “ Equal importance to life and its related activities.” This motto was a clear signal of the Union Government’s planning to restore daily activities across India provided situations improve. And hence, the Prime Minister, in his speech on 14th April, 2020, decided to provide certain relaxations in areas from 20th April, 2020 which follow the guidelines of the lockdown and show signs of improvement.

Taking this into consideration, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Government of India wide order no. 40-3/2020-DM-I(A) dated 15th Apr 2020, exempted certain industries from the lockdown to operate with conditions from 20th April,  2020. To mitigate hardship to the public, select additional activities were also allowed from 20th April,  2020 with strict compliance of issued guidelines. 

Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister has dealt the COVID-19 crises with a pro-active approach under Chief Minister Vijay Rupani. Following the guidelines issued by MHA, The government under Rupani took this initiative in an effort to restore life in the state amidst the lockdown. The prime motive was to ensure that the workers and labourers, especially the migrant workers, can resume their duties in order to sustain themselves. The Government of Gujarat formulated consolidated guidelines to enable industries for resumption of operations outside the containment zone with prescribed safeguards dated 16th April, 2020. The guidelines also prescribed the standard operating procedure for social distancing for offices, workplace, factories and establishments and also measures as per national directives under the Disaster Management Act 2005.  

The Department of Industries and Mines facilitated the District Administration for opening up the industries by issuing instructions with formation of district level committees in which General Manager, District Industries Center is the nodal officer for availing of permission to operate during lockdown period. In addition to that, the department has also set-up a dedicated state level control room at Industries Commissionerate to facilitate and monitor the commencement of industrial activities in rural areas and permitted sectors as defined in the guidelines. 

The grievance redressal mechanism is also operationalized at District level through the helpline number phone number 1077 wherein the District Collector and District Industries Officer are redressing the grievances of industries. The industrial units and businesses are permitted outside the municipal corporations and nagarpalika limits and do not fall in any of the hotspot areas or containment zones. At the same time, the industries have been instructed to operate with 50% staff and ensure social distancing in addition to proper sanitization of work places from time to time. They have also been asked to not employ women from 19:00 hours to 6:00 am. The workers can be employed on a 12 hour shift and the remuneration will be paid accordingly by the owners. A 30 minute break has to be observed every six hours.

At the same time, the Government of Gujarat has been monitoring the implementation of opening up of industries very closely and is ensuring the compliance of the guidelines being issued in this regard by MHA and GoG from time to time. CM Rupani himself reviews this aspect twice a day in addition to the regular review meetings taken by the Chief Secretary and Principal Secretary, Industries and Mines. The senior officials are constantly overseeing the situation and collect data based on real time reporting through CM Dashboard.

Industrial sector have appreciated the approach of state government and on the day first, more than 6,000 units with 45,000 employees were approached for permission and E-passes to start operations and permissions were granted on the same day itself. Till yesterday, the district administration have granted  permissions to over 50,000 industrial units providing employment to over 7 lakh employees in the state within a week.  In addition to that, the Chief Minister also lifted restrictions on fishing and marine industry. The state government has allowed fishermen to operate amidst the lockdown through a token based system.

Taking a step ahead, the Industries and Mines Department issued a notification on 23rd April, 2020 allowing the Exporting industries in SEZs, Industrial Estate/industrial townships and EOUs having export orders in Municipal Corporation and Nagarpalika areas but outside of Containment Zones. . Gujarat is among the top 3 exporting states in the country, accounting for over 20% of India’s exports. This development is a step to resume livelihood for the people of the state, and enable the state’s industries cater effectively to export markets. 

With the revised guidelines from the Government of India, the state has now also granted permission to more than 300 units within SEZs and Export Oriented Units (EOUs). The government intends to continue this trend of staggered reopening of industries as more and more industries apply for approvals. It is also to note that electricity consumption after 21st April has increased to 100 million units per day.