Manufacturers struggled to distribute essential products to many parts of India on the first day of an unprecedented 21-day lockdown to stem the spread of Covid-19, a move that drew praise from the World Health Organisation but left local authorities confused about its enforcement.
Production at many companies ranging from automobile makers to manufacturers of electronic goods have already ground to a halt, but others such as food and consumer goods companies tried to maintain a semblance of normal operations as police stopped transport of essential goods and raw materials, despite government orders to allow them to ply. Amrinder Singh, director of Bonn Industries, one of the top suppliers of bread in north India, said the company has struggled to transport even the food staple.
“These incidents are coming to light despite the Prime Minister recognising the role played by the logistics industry as essential service. Still, there are incidences of our trucks being stopped by cops in various check-points,” he said. “We have also suggested state governments provide special vehicle and points for selling essential goods but it hasn’t been considered yet. Along with this, there is a dearth of availability of raw materials due to logistics concerns,” Singh said, adding that they are unable to run their plants in the current situation.
Even distribution of medicines have faced problems at several places. “Production is on because it is an essential commodity, but transportation of formulations is not happening at the speed and rate it should,” said an executive at one of India’s largest drugmakers on condition of anonymity.
“We are in talks with authorities but every state has a different point of contact. For some, it is the police, for some district magistrate and so on. So, there is a lot of paperwork,” the person added.
Over and above this, restrictions on movement of factory workers and staff members have hampered operations, he added.
Echoing the concerns, a top packaged food maker said that the company was finding it tough to run its plants and warehouses at full capacity.
“There are some places where they are allowing it and others where they are not allowing. Wherever they are allowing, we are continuing and in others, we are making representations to the government saying that production of all packaged foods should be considered essential or it will create further chaos,” the executive said on condition of anonymity.
In a post on LinkedIn, Vivek Gambhir, managing director of Godrej Consumer Products Ltd, said that the company was increasing manufacturing capacity to ensure ready availability of essential goods, but urged the government to give clear directions to enforcement authorities to stop harassment.
