Realtors aggressive on vaccinating their workforce before Covid-19 third wave

The second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has been more ‘devastating’ on the real estate sector than the first one, as new launches and sales have fallen drastically since April this year. There has been a fear of project delays due to the local lockdowns across different States of the country. The real estate industry dealt with few key challenges during this period such as labour shortage, financial constraints, approval delays, hike in the raw material prices and the weakening customer demand due to the uncertainty in the market. As the industry gears up for the third wave of the pandemic, the first and the foremost thing in their back of the mind is to vaccinate their workforce as early as possible. Industry bodies like NAREDCO and CREDAI too have written to the Government to allow vaccination of the labourers at the construction sites. Commenting about the vaccination of the labourers Mr. Ashok Mohanani, President, NAREDCO Maharashtra said, "The country is expected to be affected by a third wave of the pandemic around July-August. Hence, we are working closely with the Government to procure the vaccination slots for the industry-wage workers. Further to this, we have also written to the Government to allow the vaccination of laborers at the construction sites. A well-paced vaccination drive can help reduce the impact of the third wave." Reiterating the same Mr. Pritam Chivukula,  Co-Founder & Director, Tridhaatu Realty and Hon. Secretary, CREDAI-MCHI said, "We look forward to getting the labourers vaccinated at the earliest who are the real nation builders. Their vaccination will streamline the construction activities and help build the dream homes of the people of India." Taking the cue from the second wave, developers too have been cautious and are working towards vaccinating their workforce at the earliest possible. The Wadhwa Group, one of India’s leading real estate development companies and a prominent realty player in Mumbai is vaccinating its employees in a phased manner. In the first phase, the developer has almost vaccinated two-third of their workforce across the city with at least one dose and is soon planning to vaccinate the remaining workforce in the second phase. The developer mentioned that its foremost priority is to get all the associates, their families and the entire ecosystem vaccinated at the earliest. Another prominent developer from Mumbai, Group Satellite had rolled-out a week-long on-premises vaccination drive at their commercial centre Solitaire Corporate Park at Andheri in Mumbai. The Group had partnered with Apollo Clinic to facilitate the vaccination drive. Over 50+ offices with over 4500 employees along with their family members took the benefit of this vaccination drive. Commenting on this initiative Mr. Abhishek Jain, Chief Operating Officer, Satellite Developers Pvt. Ltd. said, “Group Satellite is committed to the health and well-being of its employees and in line with this ethos it had conducted this vaccination drive in strict-accordance with all Government-approved protocols. The company is extending all possible efforts to get its employees as well as the members in their corporate premises vaccinated.” JP Infra Mumbai Private Limited, one of the leading real estate developers in Mumbai too had arranged a vaccination drive in two different phases at their head office in Andheri, Mumbai. During this drive, the company managed to vaccinate over 1500 individuals comprising their employees, customers and channel partners along with their respective family members. The company had collaborated with Surana Group of Hospitals to facilitate the vaccination drive. Commenting on this initiative Mr. Shubham Jain, Managing Director, JP Infra Mumbai Pvt. Ltd. said, “Our employees, customers and partners are our extended families and their well-being is our topmost priority. We believe that this onsite vaccination will be the first step towards protecting them against this deadly virus. With a vaccinated ecosystem, we will not only put less stress on the public health systems but also make the world a better and healthy place to live.” Last year, the government suggested allowing businesses in strategically important sectors to negotiate directly with vaccine manufacturers for doses for their workforce. Many developers are therefore focusing on vaccinating their employees, largely through partnerships with private health care providers and, in some cases, government vaccination centres. While in March, everyone took a backseat owing to the second wave of Covid and workers were forced to stop work in Mumbai city due to the lockdown restrictions, the industry seems prepared and ready to take on the virus attack with timely vaccination.