Kathmandu, April 6
The government has clarified that industrialists can open their factories and enterprises even during the lockdown provided they have adopted sufficient health and security precautions. However, the industrialists have expressed unwillingness to open the factories citing various problems.
The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies has said the factories can open with a provision of barring the workers, as a quarantine site. But, the owners fear that it only increases their costs and managing the staff will be complicated.
Rajesh Kaji Shrestha, the president of Nepal Chamber of Commerce, says opening other businesses does not make any sense now while all trade activities and supply systems are closed. He maintains that the factories producing and marketing essential goods are still open.
Another industrialist on the condition of anonymity fears the staffers might not be ready to join their work thinking many are paid while being at home.
“Likewise, managing the workers in a big number within the factory, by maintaining the social distance is not easy,” Satish Kumar Moore, the president of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries, says.
