Carraro India plans to restart operations at Ranjangaon, albeit gradually, from Tuesday.

This is keeping in line with the Centre’s directive on Covid-19 where infection-free zones have got the go-ahead for partial lifting of the lockdown. Carraro’s plant near Pune is far away from the hotspots of the city and the Pimpri-Chinchwad industrial area, which have seen a host of Covid-19 cases.

This pretty much means that all manpower must be sourced from Ranjangaon alone in terms of identifying the right talent and capabilities. It is this group that will take the lead while the rest will follow. The company makes gears and transmission systems for tractor and construction equipment manufacturers in India and across the world.

“We will be operating at 30 per cent of our full strength of roughly 1,500 people. The initial period will see just 100 of them working in the plant, going up to 300 after 10 days,” Balaji Gopalan, Managing Director of Carraro India, told BusinessLine .

New work regimen

The first day will have 50 people split equally between the two plants. They will be entrusted with the responsibility of starting/oiling the machines and readying the markings for social distancing. On Day 2, another 25 will come into the plant followed by the same number on Day 3.

After every shift, there will be an hour-long break to ensure that there is no physical contact with the incoming group. As part of the social distancing drive, Carraro will implement facial recognition for attendance in lieu of the basic biometric system. “Facial recognition is the way forward in hygiene since biometric involves touching with one’s thumb,” said Gopalan.

To ensure that there is no possibility of any infection breaking out with the 100-strong workforce, Carraro has decided to have them stay voluntarily within the premises over the next 10 days. Medical teams will be monitoring body temperatures every four hours while an audit team will issue red and yellow tickets for violators of social distancing.

“Yellow tickets will be issued as warning indicators while red tickets will mean that the offender is sent back home. We are also defining a quarantine room in case of an emergency,” added Gopalan. The company will ensure that chewing gum and spitting will not be allowed inside the plant.

The workforce will stay in a camp akin to an outdoor camp at picnics. “We are trying to provide satellite TV for entertainment, music from Radio FM and games while ensuring that there is no proximity,” he said. Additionally, there will be fitness regimes like jogging etc to ensure that people stay fully charged.

Beyond the factory space of 35 acres, Carraro still has a sizeable 20 acres as open land which will come in handy for the employees to move around comfortably during this phase. As part of the new work regimen, the company is converting some of its conference rooms, car parking areas, reception, basement areas and training rooms to accommodate its employees.

“We will be providing clusters of bedding spread across these rooms,” said Gopalan. A pandal will be set up for catering food where the seating arrangement will follow a zigzag pattern. For instance, there will be three people seated in a triangle around a table which would typically accommodate eight.

From Gopalan’s point of view, the main purpose of starting work on Tuesday lies in “celebrating success to create hope”. Once this small group shows the way forward, the balance 1,000 working from home will be emboldened too. “The present and future are interdependent and we need to work on the present to guarantee hope for the future,” he said.

Carraro is headquartered in Italy which has been among the worst ravaged countries in the Covid-19 pandemic. Yet, the leadership team has been constantly urging its employees in India and across the world not to get bogged down

“Every week, there is a motivational video from HQ in which the Chairman and others in the top hierarchy speak about the imperatives of positive energy,” elaborated Gopalan. There are stories of other challenges in the past which have been successfully overcome and the message to people is that Covid-19 will be no different either.

“It is clear to all of us that we need to get used to the new normal. We have a choice: live to die or live to live,” he said. Simply put, it means that a restart is fundamental to the “business, country and community” since the wheels of the economy cannot be stalled for too long.