Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday held separate online interactions with the representatives of the Indian industry and also film and television serial producers. He sought their pro-active role in the state government’s move to curb COVID-19 spread.
Uddhav Thackeray urged the industry leaders to call only workers which are essential for the functioning of the unit and make their stay arrangements within the premises of the industrial unit.
Further, Thackeray said industry needs to allow its employees to work from home wherever it is possible and take care of workers affected by the virus infection and also look after their families especially of the workers on contract. Who’s who of Indian industry were present including Uday Kotak, Ajay Piramal, Sajjan Jindal, Baba Kalyani, Harsh Goenka, Nikhil Meswani, Ashok Hinduja, Niranjan Hiranandani, Apurva Bhattacharya, Harsh G Boman Irani, Rajiv Rastogi, Sanjeev Bajaj, Mandeep More, Ishan Goyal, Amit Kalyani, Apoorva Deshpande, Zafar Khan, Rajendra Gadwe, Anand Gandhi and Siddharth Jain.
On their part, industry leaders assured their cooperation. They however, suggested that the government should go in for 24x7 vaccination, strict implementation of the corona preventive measures, impose hefty fine on those violating the rules, issue strict guidelines so that citizens can observe corona containment protocols and issue instructions for work from home wherever it is possible.
Thackeray recognised the contribution by industry leaders and said the Jindal Group has taken the responsibility of Oxygen supply while Kalyani Group has assured to provide ventilators and also to provide training and technology for its usage to the health employees.
Meanwhile, Thackeray also interacted through video conference the film and TV serial producers who offered full support for measures being taken to control the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in the state. He sought suggestions and cooperation, a statement from the chief minister’s office (CMO) said.
On Saturday, Thackeray had interacted with drama producers, multiplex and single screen owners as well as gym owners to ascertain their views on the spike in COVID-19 cases.
Nitin Datar, president of Cinema Owners and Exhibitors Association of India told PTI he had suggested that, if the government so wished, he could speak to single screen owners, whose properties are closed due to the pandemic and various other reasons, to see if they can be used as COVID care centres.
