Chamber of Commerce opposes ongoing ‘lockdown’ in Barak Valley, writes to PM Modi

September 3: South Assam Chapter of Assam Chamber of Commerce has written to the Prime Minister on Wednesday, expressing their views against the ongoing strict restrictions (lockdown) imposed in the three districts of Barak Valley. In the said memorandum, it was categorically stated that, “The sudden local lockdown which comes after the mandatory lockdown as announced by the Central Govt in the earlier months has rendered many business houses into situation where they cannot pay salaries and are on the verge of shut down.”

The memorandum signed on behalf of the South Assam Chapter of Assam Chamber of Commerce by Vivek Podder also aired grievance as regards the manner in which the present restrictions (lockdown) was imposed in the valley. He wrote, “This is to bring to your notice that a lockdown was imposed across Barak Valley from 27th August to 4th September 2020. A week before, a meeting was called at Banga Bhavan , Silchar to decide on the same and all leading citizens, business organisations and NGOs opined that lockdown was no solution for fighting COVID-19 and rather more effort be made to ensure social distancing and use of masks etc. However, a week later, without any further consultation, 11 days lockdown was announced for shutting all private business whereas, banks, Government offices, PSUs were kept open.”

Emphasizing on the message of Prime Minister Modi, they wrote,  “We have heard in your first unlock address to the nation – your clear message that the Nation has lost many working days and now we need to recover our losses and that of the Nation by working extra hours. This message gave a lot of hope to us in the business community that the worst is over and we can try and take our business forward.”

Chamber of Commerce also apprised the Prime Minister of the poor health infrastructure available in the valley. They also pointed out the reason for people exhibiting fear when it comes to do Covid testing. They wrote, “We must also bring to your notice that at the moment we have only 14 ICUs working at Silchar Medical College which is the only medical college in Barak Valley with a population of around 40 lakhs . SMCH has a capacity of 270 beds For COVID treatment whereas if we consider that roughly 0.1 percent of the population, we need 4000 beds to accommodate the current rush. If proper hygienic facilities are available, people will not avoid testing and delay in reporting as has been the recent trend resulting in increase in death rate in recent times. There are other Government hospitals which are treating COVID in Barak, but their condition and facilities are far from expected standards.”

They further mentioned that “Survival comes before income and accordingly we observed all orders of lockdown as mandated by the central government. However, with the unlock phase set in motion by you , and the directions of the Supreme Court that – life must go on , we feel that learning to live in this new normal and continuing to operate in these extremely difficult times is a challenge enough before each and every business, big or small.”

They appealed to the Prime Minister to immediately improve the medical facilities in the valley and involve more private hospitals for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. The Chamber of Commerce suggested to create awareness among the masses as regards COVID-9. They wrote, “We also feel that there is lack of awareness still regarding the need for testing as people are falling to come forward for testing and mostly these delays are fatal in case of co morbid cases. The awareness campaigns for need to test and the drive to allay fears for the disease together with removal of the stigma is a major need of our times. This would be possible by involvement and education of more NGOs and Government and non Governmental organisations across the entire country.”