How many industrial units in Gujarat have reopened after the lockdown relaxation and how many are yet to open and why?
We had started preparing well in advance after the Union Ministry of Home Affairs issued guidelines to reopen industries. After a careful analysis of the situation in Gujarat, we decided to restart all those industrial units and businesses falling outside the limits of municipalities and municipal corporations and containment zones.
We also provided the freedom to labourers to work for a 12-hour shift with additional remuneration for extra hours. We granted the necessary permission to all export units within the city limits but outside containment zones for restarting their daily operations from April 25. However, they were required to have pending export orders before the lockdown. More than 40,000 industrial units have restarted as of today and more will resume operations in the days to come.
From April 26, shops and small businesses across Gujarat, except those in Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot and Vadodara, were given the permission to reopen. We took utmost care of ensuring the safety of people amidst all this. We issued SOPs for all the units, shops and businesses and instructed them to use masks, sanitizers etc. and follow safety measures.
There has been sharp rise in the number of cases in the state, particularly Ahmedabad. How is the government planning to fight this?
The rise in COVID-19 cases is due to high number of tests performed by our health offic i a l s. Talking about Ahmedabad, more than 60% of the total cases have originated from cluster regions… Initially, we identified the hotspot areas and imposed curfew. At the same time, we ensured aggressive testing in those areas... There were more than 750 teams of health officials engaged in this task for Ahmedabad for 7 consecutive days. In Surat, we had 666 teams working for 3 consecutive days. We had created 2,200-bed capacity hospitals in four major cities for COVID-19 patients by March-end itself and were the first state to do so.
Your government claims to be testing 3,000 persons daily. Do you think that’s enough or should you ramp up testing?
The sharp rise in cases is a result of intensive testing conducted by the government. Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara account for 89% of the total cases in Gujarat. While we were testing across the length and breadth of Gujarat, our prime focus was to conduct more and more tests in COVID-19 pockets. With a testing capacity of more than 3000 per day, our aim is to ensure that we are able to identify the affected people as soon as possible.
How does your government plan to woo back migrant workers who work in Surat and elsewhere and are critical for economic activity?
More than 40,000 industrial units have resumed their operations and more than 5 lakh labourers have resumed their duties. At the same time, more than 30,000 labourers are employed at around 700 private construction sites. We have instructed the owners to provide necessary accommodation to their workers within the premises itself in order to avoid unnecessary movement. I must remind you that the crisis is not an ordinary one. We must be patient and deal with it in a composed manner.