Krishnagiri trick: Why the green matters

D.Govardan@timesgroup.com

4.5.2020

Even as the admission of a 67-year-old Nallur resident of Krishnagiri district, who tested positive for Covid-19 on Saturday, to Salem government hospital set off speculations over the move, the 8,000-odd industrial units, both large and small, in the district are awaiting the directive from the district collector to resume operations from this week.

While the admission of the Nallur resident at the Salem hospital has helped Krishnagiri district remain in the green zone, representatives of the industrial units in the region say it will not make a big difference – whether the district remains in green or orange zone -- as far as resuming industrial operations are concerned. However, they said the patient might have been transferred to the neighbouring district due to pressure from large industrial units. Remaining in the green zone helps such units to deploy 50% of workforce, they said.

“There is no correlation between zones and industries. The district did not have a single patient and this patient, despite being a native of Krishnagiri, is an import from Andhra Pradesh,” district collector S Prabhakar reiterated on Sunday. “The vehicle was intercepted at our district border and hence taken to Salem GH,” said Salem district collector S A Raman.

“We are waiting for the directive from our collector to resume industrial activities in the district, especially in the industrial town of Hosur, with several units coming under the limits of the municipal corporation. We cannot take any chances. Hopefully, the directive will come by Monday and after getting the units ready on Tuesday, we can restart operations on Wednesday,” K Ramalingam, president, Hosur Small and Tiny Industries Association (Hostia) told TOI.

According to him, the various industrial units in Krishnagiri together employ around four lakh people, with a sizeable number of them being guest workers. “Only if companies like TVS Motor resume operations, the smaller units will start getting new orders,” said Ramalingam. “I don’t think we are in a position to resume work on Monday. There has been no directive yet,” a TVS company official said, on condition of anonymity.

“There is a large contingent of guest workers and the state government has hardly done anything to help them. While the administration is asking the respective villages to take care of the guest workers, they are suffering a lot. If at least the units resume operations, it could provide them some respite,” said K A Manoharan, a former Congress MLA and national secretary, INTUC.

(With inputs from Senthil Kumaran in Salem)