Panaji, June 26 (PTI) Factories in Goa can have a 12- hour working shift to tide over shortage of workers, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Friday.

Sawant announced several measures to help businesses and industries recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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"To help factories deal with shortage of workers due to the current restrictions, the government has granted exemption to all the factories, thereby allowing 12-hour working, initially for the period till July 31, 2020," he said.

For Ease of Doing Business, the state government has introduced a self-certification scheme for factories and boilers, he said.

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"Under this scheme, factories shall be inspected only once in five years instead of annually, with prior intimation," the chief minister said.

The government has also extended the validity of existing factory licenses for one year with deferment of payment of license fees without interest, he said.

The last date for renewal of excise license has been extended from March 31, 2020, to June 30, 2020, without any penalty, Sawant said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)