Industrial production still far away from normal, situation likely to improve from next month

Acute labour shortage forced by the Covid-19-induced lockdown has hit the industrial complexes in Gurugram and Manesar, with many running only at half capacity. They now hope that by second week of August, many of those who had left for their home towns and villages after finding it difficult to continue living here, would return to the cities.

With the central government relaxing many of the restrictions from June 8 after 68 days in lockdown, industries in the areas say they have been in contact with their workers who had left. Some of them have offered to pay an advance, others have offered to pay their air fare, while still others have sent buses to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to facilitate their return. They were also hoping that measures announced by government, like paying the return train fare, would also boost their return.

Manish Singh, general manager, Galaxy exports, a firm having units in Manesar and Gurugram said they were working with only 25 per cent labour. “We had sent a bus to Bihar to get labour, but only five to six people returned as they were apprehensive of another lockdown in Delhi-NCR,” he said. “Due to paucity of skilled labour we are not taking up new orders from abroad. But, we expected things to improve from next month as a lockdown will end in Bihar on July 31 and after Eid.”

Gurugram based factory owners said that demand in the market was rising and supply chain was also improving. “For large industries in auto and other sectors, the situation is not so bad as permanent labour is still there but problem is being faced by small and medium enterprises and vendors, who have mostly contract labourers to do the job,” said Ashok Kohli, president, Chamber of Industries, Udyog Vihar.

As per the emloyees state insurance (ESI) department office in Gurugram, the industrial hubs engage around 1.2 to 1.3 millions workers in around 5000 industrial units. The hubs contribute roughly 45 to 50 per cent of Haryana’s gross domestic product (GDP), as per the local industry associations.

The Haryana government’s announcement to reserve 75% of jobs in the state to its residents, has not gone down well with the industry.

Manmohan Gaind, vice president of the Manesar Industries Welfare Association and of managing director, MM Creations, an export oriented unit, said: “Demand has improved and orders are coming and the need of the hour is flexible policy to woo workers back.” He added that he would be sending a bus to Bihar to get back his workers next month as he had one earlier to make things work.

Satyendra Singh, general manager, east west exports, said most workers came from districts in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. “Workers are wary of returning due to the quarantine policy and lack of adequate transport facilities. We have sent train tickets for 100 workers from these districts and they will be boarding on July 28. Things on the labour front are going to improve from next month,” he said.

A senior official of an auto unit said that there is huge demand from two wheelers across the country particularly in rural areas and once the labourers are here, this would boost the entire sector as a whole. “The demand is rising gradually and now we have started facing problems due to shortage of labourers as specialized workers are not available or they have shifted jobs,” said Kohli

The switch of workers from smaller units to large units, which pay comparatively better has also caused trouble for the former but things are likely to improve in the coming months, the industry experts aver and are hopeful that negative things have bottomed out in the short run.

“There’s a shortfall of labour right now. So it’s being taken care of through a demand-supply dynamic. There are some startups that are registering labours and matching their competencies against the requirements of the industry. We can help in easing out their issues with respect to permissions, if needed, even if takes to reaching out to district authorities in other states. In case some labour comes back to find there is no work at their previous employer, we can help them with the search,” said Munish Sharma, additional labour commissioner, national capital region, Haryana.