India Needs To Create A Balance Between Lockdown And Economic Activity – FICCI

A 21-day lockdown is imposed in the country to prevent the spread of the corona virus. All business and economic operations are on a standstill. Due to the increase in cases of corona virus infection each day, it is believed that the lockdown will increase till April 30. 

Meanwhile, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has said that a country like India cannot be kept under lockdown for months. There is a need to create a balance between lockdown and economic activity. The organization has made several suggestions to the central government to end the lockdown gradually and make the youth who are fit to return back to work.

Gradually remove lockdown
FICCI has suggested to the central government that the government should selectively end the lockdown across the country so that production, distribution, consumption, transportation and other economic activities can begin. FICCI has suggested to remove lockdown in places where there are no corona cases presently.

Healthy people and youth to start the work

FICCI has said that healthy people from 22 to 39 years of age should be allowed to start work. FICCI said, “This is a low-risk group. This group of 150 million people can steer the wheel of economic activity easily”.

Increase the testing capacity
FICCI has also told the government that the testing in the country needs to speed up. FICCI said, “One of the drawbacks that we are facing right now is the low provisions for proper testing of the virus which is also limiting the true intensity of the of the disease.” There is a greater need for large-scale testing and there is also a need to ensure discipline at the local level.

Suggestions for farmers
Industry organization FICCI also suggested the government to increase the number of procurement centres for wheat and other rabi crops and provide relief package to the poultry industry in view of the corona virus crisis. The industry body said that poultry farmers were badly affected by the Covid-19 epidemic. FICCI said, “In states where the new crops is expected to grow, there is a need to increase the number of procurement centres so that the farmers can sell their products at MSP(Minimum Support Price). FICCI also recommended that the number of trucks should be substantially increased to lift purchase stock from procurement centres to deliver it to other parts of the country. In addition, there is a need to create adequate storage space in the warehouses of Food Corporation of India and state agencies.

Cases in India rise to 6412; Death toll rise to 199

In India, the cases have increased to 6,412 on April 10. The Ministry of Health gave this information. In the data released on Friday, the ministry said that there have been 199 deaths due to Covid-19 infection in the country and a total of 5,709 people are currently infected with the epidemic. So far, 503 people have been fully recovered after treatment or have been discharged from the hospital. Of the 27 states and 9 union territories of the country, Maharashtra has reported the highest number of corona virus infections at 1,364. It is followed by Tamil Nadu at second place with 834 cases.

Globally the coronavirus cases has reached 16 lakh and death toll has crossed 95 thousand