Day to day activities coming back to normalcy in Ludhiana with each passing day

Ludhiana: After the lockdown was ended in Punjab on May 17, 2020, and some business activities were allowed operations, district Ludhiana is now coming back to normalcy. It is pertinent to mention that all shops related to essential services have been allowed to do counter sale from 7 am to 6 pm daily, that has helped both the common man as well as the shopkeepers in a big way.
    Similarly, the industries have been allowed to open, due to which a large number of Labour has returned back to their jobs and has helped them financially.
    Deputy Commissioner Mr Pradeep Kumar Agrawal informed that the Punjab government has allowed the shops (excluding those in containment zones) selling essential commodities, electric fans/air coolers/AC repair, vehicle repair, spare parts, books and stationary, electrician service, supply of electrical and sanitary items, construction material, bricks, sand, plywood, timer, glass etc, IT repair, Invertor supply, plumber services, wood/hardware/paint etc to operate for counter sale from 7 am to 6 pm. Even the Liquor Vends are now open till 6 pm, restaurants have also been allowed to do home delivery from 7 am to 6 pm.
    Ludhiana is an Industrial city having approximately 95,000 MSMEs, offering employment to more than 10 lakh skilled and non-skilled industrial workers. These workers belong to various states of the country, and as a result of the prolonged lockdown, have become unemployed and are facing great hardship.
    GMDIC Ludhiana Mr Mahesh Khanna informed that around 50,000 factories have started operations in district Ludhiana, due to which a large number of workers have returned to their jobs. Mr Sukhwinder Singh Bhatti, Deputy Director, Factories, informed that there are around 5-6 lakh workers registered with the Factories department who work in industries (having more than 10 workers) and with the opening of factories, around 3-3.5 lakh registered workers have returned to their jobs.
    The Deputy Commissioner informed that more than 8 lakh migrants from other states have applied to go to their home states from Ludhiana. In a good news, now many of them (who had got themselves registered to travel) do not want to leave for their home states because they have returned back to their jobs since the day industry started its operations in Ludhiana. He said that since May 5, 2020, trains carrying around 1200 migrants each have been departing for different states. He informed that from today onwards, 12 trains daily would now carry around 1600 migrants to their home states.
    Mr Agrawal said that every employee of District Administration Ludhiana, NGOs and other stakeholders are tirelessly working 24X7 to check the spread of COVID 19 in the state, and the situation is completely under control. He urged the residents to stay indoors and follow all directions of the Punjab government if they want to fight COVID 19 pandemic.