More than one crore workers and their households in Tamil Nadu stare at a bleak future as the second wave of Covid-19 has caused unprecedented havoc in the small and tiny industries sector in the State.
The lockdowns ordered by the State Government as a follow up to the second wave of Covid-19 attack has left more than 4 million entrepreneurs in the lurch in Tamil Nadu alone with no clue of what is going to happen to them, according to S Vasudevan, joint secretary, Tamil Nadu Small and Tiny Industries Association (TANSTIA), the umbrella organization of all small and tiny industrial units functioning in the State since 1956.
“When COVID-19 struck the country in early 2020, the Central Government came out with Athmanirbhar Programme to revive and reenergize the small, micro and medium enterprises numbering seven crore units across the country. We appreciate the gesture of the Government because it was a major relief to the small and medium industries in the country,” said Vasudevan. He is of the firm view that the sector could be saved from total destruction only with the liberalized financial assistance from the Government.
Though TANSTIA has sent many memorandums to the union finance minister pointing out the precarious situation faced by the sector, they are yet to get any response. “Small and Micro sectors are the largest job creators in the country after agriculture. Since the State Government has declared total lock down due to the hike in the number of COVID-19 cases reported in Tamil Nadu, the industry is facing severe crisis financially and there is a cash crunch which could be addressed only through waiver of interest and making working capital available to the units,” said S Anburajan, president, TANSTIA, in a letter addressed to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
A total waiver of interest on loans availed by the small, micro and medium sectors, financial and strategic support for the units while announcing future loans for the lock down period and rationalization of interest to six per cent on all loans considering the long term growth of small and micro industries are some of the requests made by TANSTIA to the finance minister.
According to Vasudevan, there was no point in issuing loans without interest rebates because the lockdown means closure of the units for three to four months. “We are not asking for permanent rebates or waivers, It could be done for an year taking into account the precarious situation the industry finds itself now. This is not for the financial benefit of the entrepreneurs but for the more than once crore workers in Tamil Nadu and nearly seven crore workers in other States,” said Vasudevan.