Focus: GS-III Indian Economy
Why in news?
The lockdown ordered to stem the spread of COVID-19 has swept over millions of small and medium enterprises in tier-2 and -3 cities and across.
Details
- Moving people and machines to facilitate work- from-home (WFH) options became a daunting task for many, as per industry executives of some mid-tier firms who narrate their harrowing experience.
- many enterprises and their employees, across places cities and districts suffered in terms of lack of businesses continuity and clarity, physical hardship and mental stress.
- Many companies operating in Coimbatore and Salem were running around for permissions to move people and computers.
- The companies lost several days of productivity and their employees suffered a lot.
- Certain mid-tier firms are of the opinion that the lockdown came upon them all of a sudden though the government would have been contemplating it at least a few days before its introduction.
What is being done about it?
- Realising the gravity of the situation, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) sprang into action.
- It met the respective State governments and industries departments to chalk out ways to ensure business continuity for the entire MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises) community in the country.
- The CII has urged all enterprises, which are still suffering connectivity or business continuity issues, to reach out to the industry association for assistance.
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)
- The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is an industry association in India.
- CII is a non-government, not-for-profit, industry-led and industry-managed organization.
- Founded in 1895, it has over 9,000 members, from the private as well as public sectors, including SMEs and MNCs, and an indirect membership of over 300,000 enterprises from around 265 national and regional sectoral industry bodies.
