With the government allowing industries to restart operations by adhering to strict social distancing norms, an estimated 25 per cent of the micro, small and medium enterprises commenced their operations across Karnataka.
According to data available with the Karnataka Small Scale Industries Association (Kassia), up to 25 per cent of the MSME units in major industrial estates such as Peenya, Bommasandra, Rajajinagar, Kamakshipalya, Jigani in Bengaluru restarted their manufacturing activities. Several industries in other parts of the state like Hubballi, Mysuru, Mangaluru, Belagavi, and Kalaburagi also commenced their activities.
With over 7.85 lakh registered MSMEs having more than Rs 83,000 crore investment, Karnataka has a large base of enterprises.
However, the labour attendance was very thin with barely 20 per cent reported for work in all these places. “This is understandable as the crisis has completely displaced workers and is likely to take considerable time to get back to normal. Almost about one million workers have returned from Bengaluru to their home towns in the last 40 days. Until they all return, the worker attendance will be thin,” R Raju, President, Kassia told DH.
He also appealed to those workers to come back immediately and urged the government to facilitate their return by arranging necessary transport.
Moreover, the Industries that have opened are in the process of servicing and maintenance after the long absence.
“There are serious concerns as inspectors from electricity supply companies, Karnataka State Pollution Control Board, etc. have started visiting the factories on one pretext or the other and issuing notices which is very disconcerting for the entrepreneurs in these extremely hard times as it is highly demoralising and disorienting. We strongly believe that there must not be any inspection as the industries are yet to fully restart their work and recover from the huge losses,” Raju said.
He urged the Chief Minister and the Industries Minister to ensure such inspections or visits, even if legitimate, are suspended at least for the next 3 months.