April 14, 2020
Manufacturers and retailers want govt to bring back gone migrant workers to start supply chain one again. The food processing companies seek help from the government to run special trains, buses and other means of transport to bring back thousands of workers who have left the workstation and gone back to their hometown.
The lockdown saw a severe disruption in the availability of essential supplies. While thousands of workers had left for their native places, causing a shortage of manpower, incidents of police beating and harassment was seen where retail staffs wanted to report their workplace. The tempos and trucks were stopped hurting the supplies of essential commodities. Even today, supply of food and essential items are less in availability supplying around 50% of the demand.
The FMCG companies have requested government to consider the return of truck drivers at priority as the fleet of trucks in to and fro of the transport system has been severely hit.
“Truck availability is only at 15%-level and average hire rates are increased significantly and this leads to inflation,” a recommendation by the industry body to the government said. This is causing wastage of fruits and vegetables, leading to higher prices, it said.
“Earlier, the PM has asked people not to overstep the Lakshman Rekha. Now the messaging has to change that many things are under control and companies have implemented a lot of safety measures,” said Mediratta, who heads Metro Cash & Carry in India. “The government should now send a subtle message to people in essential services to return to work.”
As the first phase of lockdown ended on April 14, retailers said the government should allow up to 50% of the staff at any given time in any store or a factory, with strict code of implementation related to the social distancing and hygiene norms to be followed.
Companies and retailers have also requested the government to include home utensils, baby products and stationery for students onto the list of essential items.
“Since people are increasingly working out of homes, so things like computers and mobile phones should also be included on the essentials list,” said Kumar Rajagopalan, the CEO of the Retailers Association of India.