PANJIM: The All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC)—Goa has apprehended that industrial estates are growing into COVID-19 hot spots as Goa government has done too little to control the situation across the State as well as these populated estates.
“Today industrial estates have become the hot spots of Coronavirus in Goa and government has done too little to control the situation in this industrial estates in Goa. In many factories workers are asked to work on production lines without maintaining social distance while workers are allowed to assemble in canteens, changing rooms and wash rooms without following government guidelines and SOPs on COVID protocols. This has led to widespread of corona virus,” AITUC Secretary Suhas Naik said in a press statement issued on Thursday.
The trade union has demanded that government appoint a high ranking officer to visit the factories in all industrial estates and gather data of COVID infections. It has also sought that COVID-19 protocols are followed by these factories. “If required the affected factories must be declared as micro containment areas to curb the spread of deadly corona virus,” Naik further said.
To ensure welfare of COVID-19 affected workers, AITUC said they should be paid 14 days full salaries as on duty by the employers. “Government must set up health care facilities in this industrial estates with adequate medical care and treatment facilities,” the union said.
AITUC expressed concern over the increasing cases and worrying high death rates in the small State.
“In Goa, given the severity of the crisis with rapid widespread of this vicious virus, our State should have gone in for a longer lockdown with the exception of grocery stores to bring the situation under some kind of control. In battling the virus, we need to follow the proven experience of other countries that have successfully and relentlessly fought and contained the virus by using a lockdown as a circuit breaker to stop this virus from escalating as it is spread through human transmission,” Naik said.
