Prime Minister Narendra Modi while announcing
Janata Curfew on March 19, days before declaring a complete lockdown, had
appealed companies to not cut salaries and wages of employees. He also advised
them not to retrench staff.

Representative Image
With factories closed and cash flow virtually dried up,
small and medium private firms want the government to come up with financial
support for payment of employee salaries.
In a video-conference held
by Minister of Railways and Commerce & Industry Piyush
Goyal on Saturday afternoon, members from the MSME sector said that
they would find it difficult to pay salaries of staff in the absence of
government support during the lockdown period. Industry bodies such as
Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), FISME and Laghu Udyog Bharati
represented SMEs in the meeting. They indicated that in absence of some aid it
will be difficult for them to retain employees.
"United Kingdom (UK)
government has announced it will pay 80 per cent of the salaries for certain
employees. On the same lines, financial support can be given here too," an
industry representative who attended the video conference said.
He said that massive
retrenchment would be inevitable in case lockdown is extended and business
establishments remain shut.
The agenda of the
interaction with industry representatives was to discuss how industry was
operating to make the lockdown effective, implementing work from home format,
state-level issues and also how the exempt and essential services are being
operated.
Speaking to
BusinessToday.In, two senior industry members confirmed the discussion and
hoped that government could work out a plan for salary payments.
Members of industry bodies Confederation
of Indian Industry (CII), Federation
of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Associated
Chambers of Commerce of India (ASSOCHAM) and Federation of Indian
Micro and Small & Medium
Enterprises (FISME) attended the high-level meeting.
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi while announcing Janata
Curfew on March 19, days before declaring a complete lockdown, had
appealed companies to not cut salaries and wages of employees. He also advised
them not to retrench staff.
The micro, small and medium
enterprises (MSMEs) sector employs 110 million people and contributes 29 per cent
to the GDP and nearly half of India's exports.
"While we may not be
able to retain employees in the wake of Covid-19 (coronavirus) crisis, the
industry would face huge problems in getting the workers especially unskilled
ones back after the crisis is over. It will take almost six months to return
normalcy," Managing Director of a Mumbai-based firm said.
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