Major industry bodies such as CII, BCIC and ACMA had made a joint representation to the Chief Minister of Karnataka BS Yediyurappa requesting for reconsideration of the decision for the opening of industries by following strict COCID-19, given many industries, including MSMEs, export units not been able to sustain lockdowns in the current form eventually causing extreme distress and financial burdens on their employees.
The joint team of Kamal Bali, Former Chairman, CII – Karnataka, T R Parasuraman, President, BCIC and Satish Machani, Chairman, ACMA - Karnataka, on Tuesday met the Chief Minister to apprise him of the situation.
The team assured the Chief Minister that the industries will follow all appropriate strict COVID-19 protocols. Further, the opening will give a big relief to all the industries. The team also assured the Chief Minister of the continued CSR support from industries in these challenging times.
The Chief Minister thanked the industry captains for the support and expressed to review the opening of the industries in a phased manner with strict COVID-19 protocols. He also referred to the growing positive cases in rural Karnataka recently and was hopeful of bringing the same under control in the next few days.
Kamal Bali, Former Chairman, CII – Karnataka said, “Clearly, there is a complete alignment in the prime objectives of the government and the industry in terms of saving lives, livelihoods and ushering in growth. The CM was assured of the industry’s compliance with COVID-19 appropriate protocol and behaviour. Considering all these imperatives, the CM assured us of a favourable decision on our request very soon.”
T R Parasuraman, President, BCIC, said, “The Chief Minister along with the Industry Minister and his team are doing a commendable job in these difficult times. I am sure given the current situation, the Chief Minister will review and open the industries at the earliest while doing a fine balancing act between saving lives and livelihood.”
Satish Machani, Chairman, ACMA-Karnataka, said, “The CM and administration have displayed exemplary leadership in these unprecedented times. On behalf of ACMA, I informed the CM that if Karnataka halts, India halts and in fact, even the world will get impacted as we are all linked. The CM was very understanding, and we hope to receive an order which balances lives and livelihoods. We assured to follow all protocols necessary to keep safety as the first priority”.