To start with, some select activities in Jammu and Kashmir are decided to be kick-started from April 20 following a virtual month long lockdown against corona virus pandemic . In this connection , what would be the manner, form and related areas etc, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) have been duly formulated. While it is well understood that all of a sudden, all the activities , commercial , industrial and services related cannot be allowed to be restarted with the same yardstick as that with suspending them in one go at the start of the lockdown. Therefore, select industrial , construction and some ‘other’ activities alone would be allowed for the time being. It is also an established fact that such relaxation is given amidst the currency of the looming threat of the corona virus and must, as such, be conditional in as much as there being no scope for any compromise with the basic protocol of precautions as social distancing (or person to person distancing), wearing of masks and other precautions are concerned.
Prudence and discretion demand that even under prevailing threat continuing with its fury and form , activities of commerce, trade, manufacturing, services, agriculture , supply and distribution must, side by side, be allowed to be started gradually with certain non negotiable conditions. Union Ministry of Home Affairs has already made it known and accordingly, the UT Government has decided to allow activities related to food processing, pharmaceuticals, soaps, disinfectants and detergents, agro products, packing material , cotton masks, cold storage, packaged drinking water etc. So far as identified Red Zones are concerned, no such activities would be allowed. Whatever gains have been made on account of lockdown must not only be consolidated but no effort spared in ensuring that more gains were made with intent to have ‘nil’ and no fresh case of the infection from any corner pouring in the medical institutions. It , therefore, also implies that in manufacturing activities , case to case studies are made and requirements assessed in totality as for manufacturing an item of comparative utility and importance , availability of main and spare parts must be available hence their manufacturing process too needs to be allowed.
While it cannot be doubted let alone denied, that looking to the nature of threat to human lives from the virus, all the guidelines in respect of fighting it announced by the Government have got to be followed but at the same time, the efficiency of the Government machinery and the administrative skills are under test and required to be optimally employed in seeing how fast but gradually, all other activities could be re-started which have got a bearing on the people’s avocation, livelihood and employment – the daily wagers, those in the private sector etc . The areas and the type of activities allowed are definitely going to slowly give a feel of attempts to move and return to normal conditions which must be carried out under the umbrella of strict adherence to precautionary protocol. Starting limited IT and IT enabled services , Data and call centres for Government activities and approved wings, courier services, cold storage and warehousing services at airports and railway stations only for purposes of facilitating supply chains was going to bring about very encouraging and assuaging results in the present circumstances. Upkeep of offices, institutions, hotels , home stays , lodges, motels for accommodating stranded people and those associated with medical and emergency services would give a small dose of impetus to labour and services related activities.
Some activities in rural areas having been allowed depicts an evenly based Governmental approach in allowing some relaxations. It assumes its own importance particularly when MGNREGA related activities are concerned with focus on individual oriented works which directly helped SC/ST/Women headed households , small and marginal farmers and poor households . More is needed to be done in stages in our rural areas. However, a monitoring , reviewing and inspecting mechanism too must regularly keep assessing the situation on which would depend, more of relaxations or curtailing thereof, all depending upon how set guidelines were followed. We reiterate that at once and in just few days, normal conditions cannot be expected but gradually more relaxations and more areas of activities could be allowed, all depending upon drop in fresh cases , red zones jumping back to green ones and virus fighting precautionary guidelines meticulously followed. Only then, can we hopefully move fast to normal days , again, as usual.
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