NAGPUR: Divisional commissioner Prajakta Lavangare Verma on Tuesday met officials of some of the top industrial houses and their associations for brainstorming on vaccinating 5 lakh industrial workers in the six districts of Nagpur division so that economic activity can be restarted.
With the ‘bio bubble’ system of a residence for workers and employers at the work site turning out to be burdensome, the focus is now to fully vaccinate the work force of all types of industries. According to a survey done by the joint director of industries, around 55.75% of cluster workers have either taken the first dose or have been vaccinated. In the large industries the figure is 65%.
“The administration is now focussing on ensuring the left out segment is also vaccinated before the anticipated third wave,” said AP Dharmadhikari, the joint director.
Apart from starting vaccination centres near industrial clusters or zones in consultation with the local administration, Verma is learnt to be insisting on large industries diverting corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds towards vaccinating labourers.
With the government allotting 25% vaccine to the private health sector, Verma has appealed to the big industrial houses to get the labourers vaccinated before starting full-fledged manufacturing.
“We have already issued them the standard operating procedure (SOP) for the industrial sectors and are now focussing on the vaccination,” said Verma.
Another plan mooted is a dedicated transport system from residence of workers to industry. Following last week’s instructions to divisional commissioners and collectors by the chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, initiatives have started across the state to revive economic activities.
As per the SOP, the unit need not be shut down in case of just a couple of Covid cases. Complete disinfection of the areas in which they operated has been advised. Deploying a Covid manager or supervisor was also suggested to keep a vigil on the workforce. (Times of India)
