Jatinder Shroff: Global economy will have long-lasting adverse effects

What has been the impact of Covid-19 on your business thus far?
The unprecedented situation has had a profoundly negative impact. We had foreseen the situation and were already working on a plan in case of more damage by the pandemic, seeing what was happening in other countries. We had very little time to prepare for the lockdown and as such, had to manage everything rather quickly, though we were able to do so successfully. Looking at the overall situation, not much could have been done anyways as both our suppliers and customers were also going to comply with the lockdown.

In the short term, how are you assessing the risks and planning for the possible impact?
We feel that the global economy will have long-lasting adverse effects because of the current situation. We will be in a better position to plan as to how to proceed further after watching the situation in the coming days.

Some businesses have acted, asking staff to work from home, doing daily temperature checks, distributing critical tasks across offices, and restricting travel. What steps have you undertaken?
While the technical side of the business could not have been conducted from home, we educated our staff  and workforce about the disease well in advance, put up posters and infographics, and had advised everyone to take proper sanitary and healthcare measures. The security staff were provided with forehead thermometers, and checked everyone coming into the factory. Masks, gloves and sanitisers were distributed to all members of the staff and the workforce. We established a taskforce to monitor the situation in the workplace. We asked some of our staff members to work from home and avoid going to meet people. We had sent out a mail to our business associates to explain why we were doing so.

How is your company staying in touch with your partners/ customers?
We send eMails/ text messages and make calls regularly to be in touch with our business associates.

Do you invest in health care, and is there a robust system in place?
Apart from the statutory compliances like ESI, etc, we have taken medical insurance policies for our employees. Besides this, we have an annual health check up for all our employees.

One suggestion for the government?
The government has taken some good steps to take care of the general public. Both the finance minister and the RBI have announced a slew of measures to ease the financial pressure on all sections of the society but we feel that they have to support the business community much more as only their survival can ensure the revival of our economy.