Lockdown: States seal borders to stop migrants; Non-availability of labour hit supplies

Seeking to contain mass spread of the deadly coronavirus, several states on Monday effectively sealed their borders to stop movement of migrant workers rendered jobless due to a nationwide lockdown, but FMCG firms flagged non-availability of trucks and labour as a major challenge in ensuring supply of essential goods.

The Supreme Court also observed that fear and panic becoming was becoming "a bigger problem than the coronavirus", but stopped short of passing any order and sought a report from the government by Tuesday.

As the 21-day naionwide lockdown entered its sixth day, reports from various parts of the country showed curbs put in place to fight the COVID-19 crisis beginning to impact supplies of essential goods as available inventory dwindled and fresh stocks were hard to come by.

Amid rumours about a possible extension of the lockdown, the government had to debunk them, while the Army also stepped in to dismiss as fake news the social media posts about a possible declaration of emergency in April.

A day after the central government relaxed some lockdown conditions to allow transportation of all goods, irrespective of those being in essential or non-essential categories, the FMCG companies said availability of workers at factories and trucks for transportation remain key challenges to meet the demand for essential items.

The companies, however, said approvals for plant operations and transportation of goods have eased difficulties in movement of raw materials and finished products, assuring steady supply of essential items.

Addressing local issues in many states that have hindered movement of goods would help in kick-starting the functioning of the supply chain, they said.

"But, the key issue that still remains is the availability of manpower and workers to run these operations. With most workers either leaving for their home towns or staying at home during the lockdown, it would be a challenge to ensure smooth functioning," Dabur India Executive Director (Operations) Shahrukh Khan told PTI.

Sharing similar experience, an ITC spokesperson said, "While we have progressively obtained permissions in some states, availability of trucks continues to be the biggest challenge at the moment. Interstate and local truck movement has been severely impacted together with the challenge of shortage of manpower in factories."
Expressing similar views, Parle Products Senior Senior Category Head Mayank Shah said, "The biggest challenge today is manpower... The new challenge facing the companies now is how to continue running their plants in absence of labour."