Lockdown 4.0: Not looking for dole, need better policies, say Meerut MSMEs

The fourth of a five-part series looks at the situation in the industrial heartland of Western UP where firms prefer GST refunds, supportive policies over handouts

Meerut might have been deserted on Wednesday, apart from some policemen, but the industrial enclave of Partapur saw traffic jams with trucks bringing back equipment and workers cleaning up the accumulated dust inside factories of the two-month long lockdown.
 

Armed with requisite permissions, the owners of the 300-odd units say all they need is some cash to restart operations. Speaking almost in total unison, from the smallest back alley unit to industrial estates employing hundreds, they insist that, rather than handouts from the centre, they want a targeted upgrade of norms relating to bank loans, cash flows, and GST refunds.