PANJIM: Industry associations have not taken kindly to the government order closing down seven units of Verna-based Tulip Diagnostics (P) Ltd for two weeks, after some staff in one of the units tested positive for COVID-19.
Former Verna Industries Association (VIA) president and now president of Goa State Industries Association (GSIA), Damodar Kochkar said, “We have written to the District Collector and the Chief Secretary this morning that if they find any anomaly in the functioning of a company they should take the industry association of that area into confidence before taking any unilateral steps. They should have informed us yesterday and we would have found out what is the real issue.”
President of the VIA which has over 100 members, Pradip Da Costa said, “The deputy collector took a unilateral decision of shutting the plant of Tulip down. Only one or two units were affected but all seven units were shut down. Right now Verna Industrial Estate is totally fine. It is a pandemic and everyone is affected and we have to fight collectively. The economy is in dire straits and we must be very sensitive before taking any step.”
Tulip, in the last 30 years has put Goa on the global map contributing to the local and national economy in terms of jobs and taxes. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it has emerged as a single largest supplier of Viral Transport Medium (VTM’s) and Viral Lysis Transport Medium (VLTM) with end-to-end capabilities, and continues to supply pan India to various governments but has been shut down for two weeks now.
“In the early part of this week, few employees at our Verna plants who were infected came into the facilities without transparently volunteering information about their health, managing to infect other employees. All employees have been advised to get their tests done,” Tulip Diagnostics president Deepak G Tripathi told Herald.
He added, “While the national guidelines prescribe a 48-hour shutdown and reopening of premises after sanitisation, the District Administration in South Goa in its wisdom has ordered two week shutdown for all plants. The shutdown period is excessively long and disruptive. Even units where there were no infections reported have also been ordered to shut down. A pragmatic and balanced approach is required to control the infection as well as to keep the industry functioning.”
Kochkar agreed and said, “Tulip is producing test kits for COVID-19 and it has seven units and it has been totally shut down. Only the infected area should have been shut and the other units should have been allowed to function. There are nearly 400 companies in Verna Industrial Estate alone.”
Kochkar added that a similar case had emerged in Bicholim too but it was handled very well. “One person had been found positive in that particular company and the company took immediate decision to get all his staff tested and luckily all were found negative. After a closure for a day to sanitise that area they resumed work the next day.”
Tripathi said that while strict protocols are in place at all their premises, it cannot replace the transparent volunteering of information on own health by employees while entering the premises. Unless strict provisions exist to take disciplinary action against individuals who hide their health condition at their establishment gates, there is a good possibility that this could repeat not only at Tulip but elsewhere.
