Coronavirus: Andhra Pradesh government issues guidelines for opening Industrial Establishments in the State

Following the orders issued vide G.O. Rt.No.88, G.O. Rt.No.92 and MHA, GoI Order Dt. 01.05.2020, the Andhra Pradesh government headed by chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy has issued following simplified guidelines permitting industries to operate in the State duly imposing certain restrictions and distancing norms to prevent onset of community transmission of the novel Corona-virus. Here are the guidelines issued by DR.RAJAT BHARGAVA Spl. Chief Secretary to Govt, Industries and Commerce Dept.

1.The state is categorised into Red, orange and Green Districts depending upon the case load and other factors. Districts of Kurnool, Guntur, Krishna, SPSR Nellore and Chittoor have been classified as Red Districts while Vizianagaram is classified as Green. The rest of the 7 districts are classified as Orange district. The categorisation on the basis of mandals previously made will further cease to exist with the new classification.

2. No Industrial activities shall be permitted in containment clusters including their buffer area (Villages/wards) either in the urban or rural areas. The areas shall be notified by the district administration or the State government from time to time.

3. The labour force working in the units shall not be taken from the areas as mentioned in point a above.

4.Intermixing of labourers and staff coming from different places shall be avoided within the factory as far as possible

5.In the Rural areas, the following are applicable

6. All Industrial activities are permitted completely subject to point (a) above and subject to safeguards for prevention of Spread of COVID 19, without any reference to essential or non-essential products in all Red/Orange/Green districts.

7. In the Urban Areas, the following are applicable

. Industrial activities are permitted completely subject to point (a) above and safeguards for prevention of Spread of COVID 19, without any reference to essential or non-essential products in Orange and Green districts.

. In case of Red zone districts, Industrial establishments in urban areas subject to point (a) above shall be permitted in a limited manner.

1.Special Economic Zones (SEZs), Export Oriented Units (EOUs), industrial parks, industrial estates and industrial townships with access control shall be permitted.

2.The other industrial activities permitted are manufacturing units of essential goods, including drugs, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, their raw material and intermediates; production units which require continuous process, and their supply chain; manufacturing of IT hardware; jute industry with staggered shifts and social distancing; and manufacturing units of packaging material.

8.No separate/ fresh permissions will be required from any authority for activities already permitted to operate under the guidelines on Lockdown measures up to May 3, 2020. The Standard Operating Protocols (SOPs) issued by MHA will continue to operate.

9.The industrial units can automatically resume operations in all permitted areas and activities as mentioned above, without any specific permission or NOC but with a self-certification to be given by the head of the industrial unit. S(he) will self-certify to run the unit by complying with all the Standard Operating procedures(SOP) prescribed in GO Rt No 88, without any relaxation whatsoever. A form for self-certification /under taking in place of NOC is required to be made along with the other details in https://www.apindustries.gov.in/Covid19/ on resumption of operations

10.The District Collectors as Chairpersons of the DIPC shall guide and encourage the permissible units to restart the operations and also operate with migrant labour wherever available so that skilled manpower is gainfully retained.