CHENNAI: The Event and Entertainment Management Association (EEMA) has welcomed the Central government decision to allow the event industry to resume work from September 21 under Unlock 4.0 with a ceiling of 100 persons.
In India, this sector accounts for the employment of 10 million people, who have been directly affected due to the pandemic. The entire spectrum of MICE (meetings-incentives-convention-exhibition) is a Rs 50,000-cr market, including organised and unorganised sectors put together.
A webinar was organised by EEMA on Sunday to release the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). President Rohsan Abbas said the events industry was steadily clocking a double-digit growth rate before coming to a halt when Covid-19 hit the global economy.
“With the declaration of Unlock 4.0, the government has allowed many industries to resume their work, but still, some major sectors including events have not been permitted to operate, which has brought this wheel to a standstill. These SOPs have been meticulously planned over the last few weeks taking into account guidelines issued by the government and multiple global associations, and have been planned across every vertical the event industry represents,” he said.
The SOP document was officially released by the special guest of honour, Valsa Singh Nair, Principal Secretary, Tourism and Culture, Government of Maharashtra and was witnessed by people including government authorities, members of EEMA, allied associations, hoteliers etc.
The webinar was attended by over 12,000-plus people from the industry across all social platforms. “The event industry already carries out comprehensive risk assessment, safety checks and logistical planning for every event, so including a Covid-19 mitigation plan as an extension of existing event-planning mechanisms is easily achievable,” says Siddhartha Chaturvedi, EEMA’s General Secretary. EEMA has also set up a Government Relations Committee to take talks forward with the Central and State governments and discuss the SOPs developed by the industry to convince them about the industry’s readiness to reopen.