With Aurangabad going in for a complete lockdown from July 10 to 18, Bajaj Auto plans to implement a 50 per cent cut in wages for its workers at the Waluj facility during this period.
The company has been in the news lately for the spate of Covid-19 infections that have broken out among employees at the plant. The numbers were estimated at 250 with five deaths. While reports began doing the rounds that a section of workers wanted the plant to be locked down, it turned out that this really was not the case.
Either ways, the wave of infections ensured that Bajaj Auto remained in the news even while the overall Covid-19 tally in Aurangabad is now inching towards the 7,000 mark with over 200 deaths. As in many parts of the country which have seen similar lockdowns, such as Mumbai and Chennai, residents say sections of the public in Aurangabad have paid little heed to either wearing masks or maintaining social distancing.
“The reality is that it (the lockdown) will make no difference to the virus or to the companies in Aurangabad as production can be made up comfortably in the last days of July or early August,” an industry source told
Home to auto brands
Aurangabad is also home to other auto brands like Skoda as well as a host of component makers. The closure will mean that the supply chain pattern will be disrupted as was the case in the earlier days of the national lockdown through April and May. Automakers suffered badly as many vendors were located in containment zones and parts could not be sourced easily.
The other harsh truth for State governments to reckon with is that the virus is now clearly on the ascending scale as evident from the growing number of infections in the country which is now averaging over 20,000 daily.
Within the medical fraternity, some grim projections indicate that the tally could touch three million infections by end-September. “If this sounds dire, keep in mind that India has already overtaken Russia and is now in the third spot for Covid-19 after the US and Brazil,” said an industry executive.
The dilemma now for State governments is to choose between a lockdown and keep economic activity going with the virus on the rampage. The choice between lives and livelihoods is not going to be easy, added the executive, given that companies will be hard pressed to keep their wage costs going with little output happening in their plants.