(By Kiran Dham)
Covid-19 has disrupted normalcy among lives, livelihoods, communities and businesses across the globe. The impact it left behind even as its retreats are unprecedented and it caught the entire world off guard. More than anything, this pandemic changed the standard world order by putting our strengths, agility and zeal to a hard test.
Be it education or business, every domain of the society had to undergo major transformation to stay afloat and retain every bit of normalcy possible.From going completely virtual to ensuring social distancing at workplace, India Inc has adopted new measures to maintain continuity in economic activities while safeguarding public health.
As the situation persists in many countries around the world and keeping the economic activities under halt seems unfeasible, many businesses and organizations have come up with innovative ideas and solutions. Innovations have been observed among Indian companies not only in terms of survival but also in contributing their bit to reduce the impact of Covid-19.
From introducing new and innovative products & solutions to going completely virtual, Indian organizations have walked several miles ahead to mitigate Covid-19 risks.
How companies are coping with the new normal
The biggest transformation we can see in India is among educational institutions of India. Be it private or government, every school and college in the country are relying on e-learning (online learning) to continue academic activities. Several educational establishments, including those in Tier III cities of India, have resorted to virtual classrooms and online learning to ensure that education reaches the doorstep of students ever since the country entered its lockdown phase in March this year.
Indian companies, that relied heavily on real-time face to face meetings for discussing day to day activities, have now gone completely virtual in terms of their business activities. Video Conferencing has played a major role in maintaining professional contact and transparency among employees in every organizations, given the current scenario. Many organizations have resorted to work from home policy and contact-less delivery of their services & products.
Coronavirus sparked a wave of innovation in Indian companies
As this quote by Steve Jobs rightly says, “Innovation is to see change as an opportunity- not a threat”, many organizations have contributed their share towards reducing the impact of Covid-19 in surprisingly resourceful way. Some Indian companies have come up with innovative healthcare & wellness products and solutions that contribute in a great way to mitigate the risk of this disease while restoring economic activities in the country, while the others stepped up to ramp up production of Covid-19 essentials to combat shortage in the time of pandemic.
Several Make in India brands, startups, etc. have launched a wide array of advanced solutions like UV Steriliser, Thermal Human Body Temperature Detection Camera, Ozonators, Hand Sanitizer Kiosks, Smart Video Analytics with features like Face Mask Detection, option to define safe threshold limits among individuals to ensure social distancing, PPE detection, etc. Some companies have also stepped up to manufacture PPE Kits, Sanitizers, Face Masks, etc. to ensure uninterrupted supply of these essential items during the pandemic.
One of the most important contributions has been of the Self Help Groups of our country. When the entire globe was grappling with shortage of face coverings, Indian SHGs backed the Indian population by providing cloth face masks in bulk quantities. Apart from that, they are running community kitchens, fighting misinformation and even providing banking and financial solutions to far-flung communities.
A host of new innovations have been incubated in the last few months. While some health portals and organizations are providing online consultation with doctors through their platform, online medicine delivery services have also stepped up to boost telemedicines and doorstep- & no-contact delivery of medicinal supplies to end users.
Conclusion
Throughout this crisis, India Inc. has demonstrated utmost agility and flexibility when it comes to retaining normalcy in business activities. Also, but blending technological innovation in our day to day lives, many Indian companies and especially Make in India brands and Self Help Groupscontributed in a great way to size down the effect of this pandemic on the country.
Indian minds have once again proved their mettle that with the help of their ability to evolve, they can overcome any difficult situation and change their status quo with dexterity & never say die attitude.
(The author is the CEO at Globus Infocom Ltd.)
