Industry body welcomes relaxation after April 20, unit owners remain skeptical

DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand Industry Association (UIA) has welcomed the state government’s decision to withdraw a few restrictions after April 20.
However, majority of them are skeptical regarding restarting the production in view of the shortage of workers and limited mobility options in the state during the ongoing Covid-19 lockdown.
UIA president Pankaj Gupta said, “The decision and its timing is perfect for the industry and I hope that things would become normal in the next three months.The industry will have to adhere to the guidelines issued by the state government in order to resume operations.”
He went on to add that the recovery would have a staggered trajectory and not be rapid. Notably, more than 3,000 industry owners from across the state are part of UIA
Echoing a similar opinion, Pradeep Dutta, CEO of Devbhumi Industrial Estate in Roorkee, which has over 70 medium and large sized manufacturing units, told TOI, “The factories involved in the production of essential commodities are working according to the guidelines of the state government. After April 20, I am confident that the production would get more streamlined, which is good for economy.”
Meanwhile, owners of industries based in Dehradun, Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar, complain of shortage of workforce which they said would affect production.
“The lack of public transport and mobility of finished goods are big concerns for industry owners. Shortage of workers due to the Covid-19 outbreak further aggravates our woes,” said Vineet Singhal, owner of a Kashipur-based industry.
Arun Saraswat, president of Haridwar SIDCUL Association and owner of an industry, said, “It is very difficult for us to make food and lodging arrangements for workers. Also, there is no transport system to make sure that workers reach units on time.”