Coronavirus Outbreak: Hope govt will announce stimulus packages to rebuild economy after lockdown extension, says Nasscom

IT industry body Nasscom on Tuesday said it is hopeful that the government will announce economic stimulus packages soon to help rebuild the economy even as the nationwide lockdown was extended till 3 May to contain the spread of coronavirus infection.

Welcoming the move to extend the lockdown, Nasscom said it is imperative that people to adapt to this “new normal” and build in practices like social distancing in everyday lives over the next many months.

“The nationwide three-week lockdown (that was to end on 14 April) has played a key role in helping India contain the spread of Covid-19.

“While, there are some districts that are still heavily impacted, it is heartening to hear about patients recovering and some districts reporting no new cases over the last 2-3 days,” Nasscom said in a statement.

“We are also happy to note the relaxation of restrictions in green zones and hope the government will also announce the economic stimulus packages soon so that we can start focusing on rebuilding the economy,” Nasscom said.

Information technology and business process management (IT-BPM) companies have asked most employees to work from home with very few staff being present at locations to handle critical workloads.

The industry body said IT-BPM industry is committed to take all precautions on hygiene, sanitisation and ensuring all necessary guidelines are followed by the industry and employees, as it continues to support critical services.

“Nasscom is also working closely with the government to enable technology solutions for COVID-19 that will enable the post lockdown phase,” it added.