Industrialists from across Tamil Nadu have expressed concerns that the high-level committee formed by the State government to assess the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic does not have sufficient representation from all sectors. Several industrialists have requested Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami to reconstitute the committee with the “right mixture” of representatives of various fields like finance, human resources, operations, exports, banking and economics, who are in direct touch with trade and industry.
“We are happy that the Tamil Nadu government has formed this committee. But they could have included more members from various sectors and also roped in heads of various countries that have operations in the State,” said the managing director of a manufacturing firm in the Sriperumbudur belt.
IT firms on OMR felt that a representative of their industry should have found a place in the panel. “COVID-19 has changed the way the IT industry functions, and more changes would come in over the next few months. Having a member from one of the State-based firms would have been more appropriate,” said the chief financial officer of an IT firm. The IT industry in Tamil Nadu is approaching USD 20 billion in exports and employs over 4,00,000 people directly and over a million indirectly.
K.E. Raghunathan, former national president, All India Manufacturers’ Organisation, said, “The MSME sector representatives feel the formation of an expert committee is not a right move at this time. Today, what MSMEs need is urgent announcements and support in order to survive.” . K.V. Kanakambaram, president, The Industrial Estate Manufacturers’ Association, said industrial estates had been badly hit by the lockdown, and demanded representation for the sector.
“Having a country-specific representation will help the State. It will also help us understand what global investors are saying about Tamil Nadu,” the head of a Chamber of Commerce said.
Representatives of the MSME, agriculture, textile and fisheries sectors and members of parties that have representation in the Assembly must be included in the panel, DMK president M.K. Stalin said.
“Though the committee has 24 members, barring the chairman, who is an economist, and some industrial representatives, all others are officials. Is this fair?” he asked.
