Be practical, have trust in us: Haryana entrepreneurs to govt

Industrialists and their associations said that instead of threatening prosecution, the government should trust them to follow the standard operating protocols and other measures

Entrepreneurs from Haryana on Monday sought a more affirmative approach from the state government to resume industrial operations in the state. Industrialists and their associations said that instead of threatening prosecution, the government should trust them to follow the standard operating protocols and other measures.

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Jagan Nath Mangla, president of Gurgaon Industrial Association (GIA), a body having around 400 big, medium and small industries as members, said that the state government itself seems to be in some ambiguity over the resumption of industrial activity.

“The impression which I am getting from the GIA members is that the government does not want economic activity to be resumed. They just want to bide time till May 3. The kind of conditions which have been imposed makes it practically impossible to run the enterprise smoothly,” he said.

Mangla said that there is unavailability of labour as most of them are either in camps or have gone back home. Those in camps need to be contacted. Making arrangements for boarding and lodging is a difficult task and maintaining social distance is a challenge, he said.

“The industry is apprehensive about the provisions of challan and prosecution. The government has not been able to give confidence to the industrialists,” Mahal remarked.

Not wanting to be named, another Gurgaon-based entrepreneur said providing masks, maintaining social distancing and making hand sanitisers available to the staff is their duty. “But the government should be able to infuse confidence. The message which is required from the government is that they are supportive. Why is there so much confusion,” he asked.

An exporter from Panipat, Amit Goel said that the guidelines do not seem to be practical. “The kind of details being asked from the industry is complicating the process. They should have allowed us to start operations by filling a simple application. Only 3-4 persons from the management staff could be allowed in the beginning to start administrative operations. Subsequently, we can be scrutinised and allowed to scale up the manufacturing. The government should trust us. Also, we suggest that workers who want to come on bike or cycle should be allowed. That’s better than bringing them in buses,” said Goel.

A Faridabad-based manufacturer, who also requested anonymity, said the government needed to take some immediate short-run measures to kick-start the economy. “I am concerned about prices of raw material and costs of freight getting shot up. An artificial shortage has been created due to non-functioning of the supply chain. The government should come up with guidelines to regulate pricing,” he said.