The Maharashtra government has announced a partial shutdown to curb the spread of coronavirus with the maximum number of cases being reported in the state.
Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday announced that all workplaces, including those in the country’s financial capital Mumbai, will remain closed till March 31. The shutdown will be applicable in Mumbai, Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad and Nagpur.
Though there were fears in some sections of the stock market that trading in the bourses could also be suspended, state health minister Rajesh Tope clarified that banks, stock and commodity markets have been excluded from the restrictions.
All corporate houses and establishments will be completely shut down. Schools, cinema halls, malls and gyms will also remain closed. The restrictions will be implemented from Friday midnight.
Besides the Reserve Bank of India, establishments providing essential services such as drinking water, telephone and internet, rail and transportation, vegetable and grocery stores and banks will be excluded. Though hospitals, medical stores, media and electricity and petroleum services have also been excluded, the notification said production may continue to function at 50 per cent staff strength.
Tata Sons chairman N. Chandrasekaran said in a message that all group companies have been asked to extensively adopt work-from-home, excluding situations in which they are involved in the delivery of products and services .
Chandrasekaran assured that group companies will ensure full payments to the temporary workers and daily wage earners for the month of March and April even if they are not able to work because of quarantine measures, site closures, plant shutdowns or other reasons.
A spokesperson from Reliance Industries Ltd said the company has initiated a work-from-home protocol for all its employees across the country and overseas, effective till March 31. RIL, he disclosed, has migrated to an “agile work from home” protocol that encourages all employees to utilise all digital tools at their disposal to maximise productivity.
