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Starting April 20, India will allow key parts of the economy, including agriculture, logistics, infrastructure, e-commerce, and factories (located outside the boundary of municipal corporations and municipalities), to return to work in areas where infections have not been reported, the government said Wednesday.
Narendra Modi’s government is trying to balance the need to limit damage to the economy and livelihoods of up to 400 million poor against the risk of the coronavirus outbreak spreading further through community transmission.
The plan for the gradual lifting of sidewalks comes even when India counted more than 12,000 infections and 400 deaths and the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday cut its growth forecast for fiscal year 2011 for India to just 1.9% from 5.8% projected in January. Barclays reduced its growth forecast for the country to 0% by 2020.
Certainly, the guidelines of the new Union Interior Ministry will not apply to containment areas, areas with covid-19 infections. No restrictions will be lifted in these areas. Additionally, the new permits are conditional and will be withdrawn immediately if the rules are not followed, leading to further spread of the pandemic.
“If any new area is included in the category of a containment zone, the activities allowed in that area until the moment of its categorization as a containment zone, would be suspended, except for those activities that are specifically allowed under the guidelines of the Ministry of the Family Health and Welfare Union, “the government said in a statement.
While companies welcomed the new guidelines, economists said the steps do not go far enough to fuel growth during the current fiscal year.
“Agriculture and manufacturers of essential goods will benefit more from the revised guidelines. This should be analyzed in line with the opening of the APMC (agricultural products market committee) markets, the free movement of essential goods, the ration shops to remain open and without restrictions on the opening of establishments for the manufacture of goods essentials, “Care Ratings wrote in a report Wednesday.
Mint had reported on April 11 that India is exploring a decentralized strategy to exit the blockade, which may involve dividing the nation into green, orange and red zones.
“The detailed guidelines issued by the Interior Ministry on the relaxation of the confinement after April 20 are in the right direction and will guarantee preventive measures for the spread of covid-19 while allowing certain economic activities to restart,” said the Indian Industry Confederation lobby group in a statement.
“If implemented well, economic activities can be restored up to 30-40% according to our calculations,” Deepak Sood, general secretary of the Assocham lobby group, said in a statement.
In addition to allowing all agricultural and related activities, including fishing, planting and animal husbandry, the government also allowed people to do jobs under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), a rural employment generation program.
States have asked to increase wages and the number of work days under MGNREGA to help millions of people in rural India, including some who moved to villages after the first phase of the closure was announced on 24 March.
In addition to the financial sector becoming fully operational, with bank branches established to follow normal working hours; The Interior Ministry order also emphasized the truck movement on April 20 to clear the logistics jam. This will allow Indians locked inside their homes to access basic products and supplies.
The move is also expected to provide relief to truckers who are stuck on their way to deliver goods. Empty trucks will be able to pick up merchandise and truck repair shops and roadside restaurants, which serve truckers, may reopen.
“This is a continuation of what had previously been transmitted to the states by the home ministry. But we received several complaints that the trucks were stopped at the border checkpoints and were not allowed to pass, despite the fact that they were transporters of basic products or were empty and that they were going to collect points across state borders, ” said a senior official of the Union Interior Ministry requesting anonymity.
The government has also allowed the movement of contractual personnel and labor for operations in railways, airports, land ports, seaports, provided they obtain the necessary passes from local authorities.
Additionally, construction activities have been permitted for those roads, irrigation projects, buildings, and industrial projects where workers are available on-site and are not required to bring workers from outside.
E-commerce companies and courier services will also go live starting April 20, along with services “provided by freelancers such as electricians, electronics repairers, plumbers, motor mechanics, and carpenters.”
The government is trying to prevent the current turmoil from turning into a deeper social crisis.
It is estimated that almost 90% of the country’s workforce comes from the informal sector. There has also been an increase in the unemployment rate in rural India.
Shaswati Das, Elizabeth Roche, Biman Mukherjee, Shreya Nandi, and Prashant K. Nanda contributed to this story.
