Business and life after 20th April 2020
By Amir Arsiwala
Introduction
As the medical agencies and personnel grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, policy makers, banking regulators and politicians find themselves grappling with another problem – economic stagnation. The Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, in his statement issued on the 17th of April 2020, has indicated that the coming economic slowdown may be unprecedented.
On the 24th of March 2020, in a televised address to the nation, the Prime Minister announced that the nation was to go into a lockdown for 21 days. The lockdown involved a complete shutdown of all industries and businesses which were considered “non-essential”. In the State of Maharashtra, though, the lockdown began a week earlier through a slew of notifications and circulars which operated in a patchwork manner.
Research conducted by public health agencies showed that while the 21-day lockdown helped, the “flattening of the curve”, as it were, is still a work in progress. The Office of the Prime Minister of India held a video-conference session with the Chief Ministers of various states on the 11th of April, 2020, on which date, as reports suggest, Chief Ministers of various states requested the lockdown to continue. Indeed, several states declared an extension of the lockdown shortly thereafter.
The national lockdown was also extended, which was communicated by way of an address to the nation on the 15th of April, 2020. However, the concerns of the policy-makers and economists were also taken into account; and it was announced that, subject to restrictions, the economy would be reopened in a phased manner beginning from the 20th of April, 2020. Shortly after the address to the nation, the Ministry of Home Affairs (being the nodal ministry under the Disaster Management Act, 2005) released a notification detailing the industries which would be allowed to resume operations from the 20th of April, 2020, and the conditions that such re-opening would be subject to. On the very same day, the Government of Maharashtra published a short notification aligning its previous orders to the notification of the same day of the Ministry of Home Affairs. This was followed up by a comprehensive notification published on the 17th of April, 2020, setting out the guidelines for reopening of industrial and business activity in the State of Maharashtra. It may be noted that the 15th April 2020 notification of the Central Government allowed State Governments to prescribe additional norms which were not less stringent.
In this article, we will examine the sectors opened up, and the conditions precedent thereto. The relevant modifications set out by the Government of Maharashtra will also be examined.
Industries/sectors that can be opened up from 20th April 2020 onwards, and limitations.
The full list of sectors opened up is set out in the notification published by the Ministry of Home Affairs on the 15th of April, 2020, as well as the Government of Maharashtra on the 17th of April, 2020. Apart from public health and utilities related industries (including the pharma sector), the agricultural sector (including horticulture, pisciculture, and animal husbandry) have also been opened. Most importantly, there is clarity their entire supply chains and allied industries will also be allowed to function. Thus, industrial units engaged in the manufacture of agricultural appliances will also allowed to be fully operational. Similarly, storage warehouses, including cold storage warehouses, will also be fully functional.
The logistics sector has also been allowed to function; including last-mile services connectivity. Thus, courier services may begin operations. Road transport of goods is allowed as are highway support services.
Notably, the IT and ITES industry has been given a green signal to function. However, there is a stipulation that they may not function at more than 50% capacity. Keeping in mind the context of this notification, it would appear that this restriction is only for the number of employees who are expected to function on-site. There does not appear to be any bar from the remaining employees functioning from their homes. E-commerce has also been allowed to be re-opened for all purposes and not just for delivery of essential goods or services. Manufacturing activities in Special Economic Zones and Export Oriented Units will be allowed as these areas have pre-existing access control. Similarly, industrial estates and industrial townships with access control can also be functional and industrial units therein can function. Food processing units can operate outside municipal limits, as can brick kilns.
Construction activities can be resumed as long as workers are already available on site and are not needed to be brought in from other locations.
Hotspots & Containment Zones
Areas with high incidence of COVID-19 are known as “Hotspots”. Within these hotspots, the municipal authorities can demarcate containment zones with strict access controls. No reopening of businesses will be allowed within these containment zones.
Standard Operating Procedure
The notifications have made reopening of permitted business contingent upon their adoption of a “Standard Operating Procedure” which has to comply with the basic guidelines set out in the annexure thereto.
The Standard Operating Procedure adopted by the company should contain directions for the following:
The organization needs to have in place a policy for regular disinfection drives. In particular, the following areas would have to be disinfected completely before operations can begin: (a) Entrance gate of building and compound. (b) Cafeteria and canteens. (c) Meeting rooms, Conference halls, open areas available, verandah, entrance gate of site, bunkers, porta cabins, building etc. (d) Equipment and lifts. (e) Washroom, toilet, sink, water points etc. (f) Walls/ all other surfaces. (g) In phases water supply to all wash basins in public building should be replaced by foot operated taps
For employees not resident at the premises of the organization, special transportation facility will have to be arranged without any dependency on the public transport system. These vehicles should be allowed to work only with 30-40% passenger capacity. All vehicles and machinery entering the premise should be disinfected by spray mandatorily. Issue of travel passes for employees of the exempted establishments shall be done by District Magistrates/Collectors everywhere except in MCGM (Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai), PMC (Pune Municipal Corporation), PCMC (Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation) and NMC (Nagpur Municipal Corporation) where it will be done by Municipal Commissioners. The copies of all passes should be marked to the local police.
Mandatory thermal scanning of everyone entering and exiting the workplace to be done.
Provision for hand wash & sanitizes preferably with touch free mechanism will be made at all entry and exit points and common areas. Sufficient quantities of all the items should be available.
Workplaces shall have a gap of one hour between shifts and will stagger the lunch breaks of staff to ensure social distancing.
Large gatherings or meetings of 10 or more people should be discouraged. Where such meetings or gatherings cannot be avoided, the participants should maintain distance of 6 feet or more. Similarly, policies to be put in place ensuring that social distancing norms are maintained in all public areas in the office such as lifts, etc. If possible, usage of lifts should be restricted and usage of stairs should be encouraged.
There should be a total ban on non-essential visitors. Video-conferencing may be adopted for this purpose.
Hospitals/clinics in the nearby areas, which are authorized to treat COVID-19 patients, should be identified and list should be available at workplace all the times.
It can be seen that the Standard Operating Procedure that is required to be put into place involves significant expenditure and preparations. It seems unlikely that smaller establishments and undertakings will be able to implement all these conditions. In particular, the arrangement of transportation and periodic disinfection may prove to be too costly for organizations to adhere to.
While the government has definitely taken a balanced approach towards reopening industrial output, it remains to be seen whether the mandatory Standard Operating Procedure will dissuade business-owners from restarting operations. As things stand, business across the board have been engaging in various HR strategies to keep costs down, including lay-offs, wage reductions, and forced leaves. While desperate to restart operations and recover revenues, these organizations may not be keen on increasing their overhead to function over the next 2-6 weeks. Indeed, the cost of following the SOPs in earnest may even exceed the profit they can hope to earn in this dampened economy during the same period. After all, the SOPs will not be required once the pandemic comes under control and full operations are resumed.