TUESDAY, 21 APRIL 2020 AHMEDABAD

First Day, First Tentative Steps Companies remain hopeful of an early resumption of full operations after govt relaxes some shutdown curbs, but demand revival is still a key concern

Team Mint ~vemint.com

As the country eased curbs to

. allow some eco­nomic activity on Monday after an

extended lockdown that began on 25 March, companies, many of them charting exit strategies from the lockdown, remained hopeful ofa full and early resumption of opera­tions.

On Monday, the Centre and several state governments par­tially lifted the lockdown in n on-hotspot are,- " allowing agriculture and allied indus­bies to resume operations, set- -ting the stage for further relax­

ing Finance Ltd, said. While ensuring seamless reopening of supply-side bottlenecks remains the top priority for governments and industry alike, experts said the answer to successful demand revival could well lie in addressingthe currentiogjam.

"The partial reopening of the economy is a big relief, par­ticularly as trucks can run again and move goods to and from factories and markets. However , the immediate resumption of highway tolling and some states even talking aboutraisingtoUch argesis not good news: said San jay Kir­loskar, chainnan of Kirloskar Brothers Ltd and president of the All India Manage ment

Association.

• atioris in regions where the effect of the pandemic has been rela­tively less or niL

While the phased lifting of

VIRUS EFFECT

"After a pro­longed stoppage, it is important to let things move with minimal

ihe lockdown is likely to restore supplies to pre-covid levels, demand revival at this juncture remains the key con­cern and is contingent on enhanced government meas­ures to push growth, industry executives said.

'Thegovemment must look at how demand comes back to the economy. They can look at tweakLg the existing welfare schemes and releasing subsi ­dies before the disbursement of loans and, I feel , this will ensure that business is restored in a short span of time after the loc kdownis lifted," D.S. Tripathi , managing d irector and chief executive officer (CEO), Aadhaar Hous-

friction and costs. Having assured electric­ity, fuel and food supplies are critical to restoring life and business, " Kirloskar added.

"The biggest challenge is on the demand side and till the government gives a stimulus, demand will take t ime to return," said SachitJain, vice­chairman ofVardhman Spe­ci,al Steels and a board member ofVardhman Textiles.

"Markets need to open up as well, not just the factories. RBI needs to allow a bigger rate cu t and banks must transmit this reduction. The government needs to inject an econo mic stimulus: Jain added.

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A traffic jam seen on NH-24 in New Delhi on Monday as the country began its staggered exit from the lockdown, which started on 25 March. The Centre eased restrictions in some non-hotspot areas and allowed se lect economic activi ties to resume_ RAJ' RAJ/HT

FARMERS FACE AN UNCERTAIN HARVEST Prerika Khanna ~~t.com PANIPAT, HARYANA

H arveste~ machines lumbered up the northern high­ways of Punjab and Haryana on Monday to a hesitant welcome by farmers. It's day one of the easing oflock ~

down restrictions and this should have been good news for India's agrarian economy in the harvest season for the rabi crop. Except that after nearly four weeks of the ongoing lock­down, rural India is staring atan uncertain future marked by a lack offarrn hands, a delayed harvest and an absence of clar­ity on social distancing nonns that are hard to enforce on

A farmer harvests wheat crop with hi s face covered on the TURN TO PAGE 11 outskirts of Jalandhar. HT

m:M~it·]ieilll ~~ INDIA ~~~~t#' . 18,3601574

Total cases 'Deaths

. 3,031 ~ 14,679 Recovered 1 Active cases

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t:'~~"~:~ GLOBAL \\--l~~,~~

2,432,092 Total cases

166,794 Deaths

636,929: 1,628,369 Recovered i Active cases

Source: Union health ministry, stales

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Centre raps states for violations Prasham K. Nallda & -----ShaswauDas

NEW DELHI

I ndia'sruralcconomymadea tentative restart in several states on Monday, amid

reports of vi olati OilS of social distancing nonns &t in place to avoid contagion.

Work under the rural job guarantee programme, crop harvesting and road constmc­tion activities started in some parts ufindia after being stalled for 26 days.

In Ke rala, agricultural, fish­ingand plantation activity was allowed in parts of seven dis­tricts, including Thiruvanan­thapuram, Wayanad , Kotta­yam , and Idukki. "Kerala is making its way back into life. From todayon,someareas will see relaxations. We are not past the danger and must remain cautious. The lockdown must have made some of our life skills rusty; take extra precau­tion: Kerala chief rninister Pin ­arayi Vijayan said on 1\vitteL

In Puducherry, authorities said that IO,UOOworkers have j oin e d work unde r the Mahatma Gand hi National Rurai Emplo)1nentGuarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).-"MGNREGA work, which pro­videsemployment to the rural

TURN TOPA(;EI1

Agrarian economy poised for a revival as curbs eased FRO M PAGE 1

farms. Wheat procure ment in

states like Haryana and Punjab usually begins on I April but it was delayed this year due to the covid-19 restrictions. Unseasonal rain last week have added to the delay.

On Monday, Dharambir Saini in Dharvillage in Panipat district ofHaryana managed to hire a harvester to cut the wheat crop in his five-acre land. The crop has been sitting ready for weeks but the restrictions meant nothing could move. Harvestingofrabi . (winter) crops such as wheat, mustard, com and pulses usu­ally begins in March.

"We somehow arranged a harvester for our fie lds. There is a huge shortage of farm labourin the area. People who used to work in factories, which are no longer function­ing' are now coming to the fie lds to help out. During the lockdown, we weren't getting

Even as farmers were allowed to continue to work in the first three-week lockdown, the procurement of fer t ilizers and seeds was proving to be a challenge. PAWAN SHARMA/MINT

fertl ;izers and seeds as those sho;Js were all shut. Even if there was a minor repair needed in a tractor, it could not bedone," Saini said.

Panipat, an industrial town in Haryana has a large number of hand loom factories, which employ many migrant work­ers. With the factories shut, migrant workers who stayed back have headed to the farms

in search of jobs. The state government has

increased the number of pro­curement centres and is work­ing out a strategy to ensure that farmers do not need to make multiple visits to the mandi to sell their produce. However, farmers like Saini are still unsure of what if any special arrangements have been made.

"We wear masks and step ou t. To sell our goods we will have to go to the rnandi . How can we observe distance there? We worry about our health as well, but this is our year's eam­ing," he added.

Even as farm ers were allowed to continue to work in the first three weeks ofthe ini­tial lockdown, the procure­ment of fertilize rs and seeds was proving to be a challenge, as was the lack of labour and farm machines.

Ramphal Pandit, a farmer in Mehrana village in Panipat, was left with little option but to harvest half the wheat crop in his field- b\' hand.

"I would l..;ually have hired a harvester machine but with no clarity, I and my family worked on the field ourselves. This is our main source of income and we could not delay that. The lockdown has been tough on us. We don' t know what we will do with the pro­duce, or if we ,viII get a proper price," Panditsaid.

Chief minister Mano hal Lal Khattar has said his govern­ment will procure every single grain produced in Haryana, and urged commission agents to help out fanners in this time of crisis. Mustard and wheat procurement, respectively commenced from 15 and 20 April.

Prime Minis te r Narendra Modi said last week that although the lockdown will continue till 3 May, there will be fewer restrictions fo r dis­tricts which are not coronavi­rus hotspots from 20 April.

The central home ministry­notified that the government has allowed rnandis, procure­ment agencie::;, farm opera­tions, agri -machinery hiring centres, intra- and inter-state movement of farm imple­ments to operate once the lockdown restrictions are eased.

Whether all of this brings any measure of certainty to the farms ofPanipat remains to be seen.

Economy sputters back to life as govt eases some restrictions FROM PAGE 1

For e-commerce companies . that were allowed to resume

normal business operations and later denied permission, regulatOly risk remained a key factor even as the sector con­tinued to grapple with logistics issues, especially manpower shortage.

In an email to employees, KaIyan Krishnamurthy, chief executive of Flipkart Group, indicated that Flipkart will be prepared to meet customer needs as soon as the govern­ment decides to resume fuJI operations and economic activities.

"For the next tNO months, all e-commerce players will be

-""~. -- .......

MINT

E-commerce sector continues to grapple with logistics issues.

figuring out the logistics puz­zle, and e-commerce players like ours will focus on expand­ing hyper-local supplies. A lot oflarge sellers are also adapt­ing and now procuring essen­tia�s' but smaller sellers are still '~ting for i!lventory to move,

before they stock up any fur­ther," said Srinivas Mothey, senior vice-president, Paytm

, Mall. "Resumption of production

in totality at the moment looks difficult for the automotive industry, given the integrated nature of the operations between automakers and their suppliers," said Vinnie Mehta, director general, Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India. "Move­ment of manpower across bor­ders is crucial for resuming operations. Besides that, com­panies n eed to take into account the poor consumer sentiment as they commence operations in phases," said Mehta.