Start working for a post Covid-19 world, Piyush Goyal tells trade bodies

Minister of commerce and industry Piyush Goyal on Wednesday asked industry and trade associations to start working for the post-Covid-19 period. 

The meeting, which was held through an online video conference, sought to assure industry representatives that the Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign was not meant to be inward-looking or anti-foreigner. 

The conference attended by representatives of several trade bodies, including the Confederation of Indian Industry, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Associated Chambers of Commerce of India, National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM), Confederation of All India Traders Association (CAIT), Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises, Laghu Udyog Bharati among others.

The meeting, which was the fifth such discussion in the light of Covid-19 related national lockdown, was also attended by minister of state for commerce and industry, Som Prakash and Hardeep Singh Puri.

The government will now also focus on developing rural areas as opposed to the urban-centric development in the last 30 years. “It is very anguishing to note that even for several routine items like furniture, toys, sports shoes, we are importing. This is despite the fact that the country has technical prowess as well skilled manpower. These things need to change,” Goyal said, according to the statement.

Previously small traders associations such as CAIT had written to the government, asking for inclusion of traders under the Rs 3 lakh crore credit package announced for MSMEs as part of the Covid-19 related economic relief measures. 

Recently NASSCOM wrote to state governments asking for changes in labour laws and changing the definition of shift timings to enable working from home in the post Covid-19 scenario.