Migrant UP workers stay put at Savli, make masks

Sachin Sharma | TNN | Apr 16, 2020, 04:15 IST

Their company set up a small unit with seven sewing machines

Vadodara: When migrant workers gathered in Surat and Mumbai to go home, it set off alarm bells here too. But at this high-end carpet manufacturing unit, there is no panic and workers are making masks for free distribution.
When lockdown was announced and transport services came to a halt, there were around 200 workers at the export-oriented unit in Savli of Vadodara district. The unit of the US-based Perennials and Sutherland LLC employs around 325 people. While 50 of them are local residents, the remaining are carpet artisans from Uttar Pradesh.
“We are heavily dependent on workers from UP as they are experts in making carpets. Out of around 275 workers from UP, 75 had gone to UP to celebrate Holi. The remaining were staying in our residential complex near the plant,” said Amol Biniwale, MD of Perennials India.
“We do not sew anything at the unit and the workers are also not experts at this. We identified a handful of workers who could operate sewing machines. The machines were supplied by one of our associates and raw material was obtained,” said Biniwale. The company set up a small unit with seven sewing machines. It will be supplying 50,000 masks to Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) for free. The first lot of 1,000 masks was handed over the civic body on Tuesday.
“We have suggested that VMC give these masks to whoever is spotted without a mask on the road. The person should be fined and then handed over the mask,” said Biniwale. VMC has decided to slap a fine of Rs1,000 to those not wearing face masks .