Over 150 small-scale industries not permitted to operate in Gurugram

Gurugram: Applying the principle of safety first, the Gurugram administration has not approved the applications of over 150 small-scale industries seeking permission to operate.

The officials have directed the owners of these industries to further enhance the social distancing norms following which the permission would be granted. On Tuesday, the district administration further notified that all the commercial establishments selling air conditioners, water coolers and school books will not be open for business till further orders.

Following the guidelines of the Ministry of Home Affairs wherein there was a slight leeway on opening of the commercial establishments, several industries filed applications on the government portal for resuming the operations. More than 150 applications have been received by the district administration from factory owners in the last two days.

Speaking on the issue, Assistant Chief Secretary (ACS) to the Haryana government VS Kundu reiterated the importance of putting safety first and asserted the significance of social distancing guidelines that needs to be practiced.

"We have been successful in managing the spread of COVID-19 in Gurugram and we want to maintain this. We also want to ensure that the commercial establishments in some areas of Gurugram will start functioning by abiding proper social distancing guidelines. The industries have to make sure that the labourers stay within the premises of their workplace. There will not be any transportation of labour from interstate or inter-district," said Kundu.

The senior public official has also warned the industries not to stop the salaries of the workers for the month of April. In a meeting conducted by Gurugram Member of Parliament (MP) Rao Inderjit Singh with top public officials of Gurugram on Tuesday, strict guidelines by the district administration to maintain social distancing measures in industries were discussed.

"I have had a discussion on the issue of functioning of industries with the public officials. The situation of the industry owners will be carefully analysed by the officials. The industry owners must also realise about the importance of working under strict regulations, maintaining social distancing norms," said Rao Inderjit, the Gurugram MP.