Govt shouldn’t allow exodus of workers, say bizmen

Mohit Behl | TNN | May 4, 2020, 07:34 IST

Ludhiana: In a setback to businessmen of Ludhiana, a record number of people from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have registered with the Punjab government to go back to their native states, out of which a large number are migrants, and the highest number of applications has been received from Ludhiana.
According to data shared by special chief secretary (Punjab) KBS Sidhu on his Twitter account, 2,79,103 is the total number of people of other states who want to go back from Punjab, out of which 1,44,692 want to go back to Uttar Pradesh (out of which 90,428 are from Ludhiana). Besides, 95,365 people from Punjab want to go back to Bihar, out of which 57,278 are from Ludhiana.
However, there is no clear number of how many out of these are factory workers, but according to businessmen, it is likely that there are more than 50%. They are of the view that the government should not allow the mass exodus of workers, as it would jeopardise the operations of industry when it fully reopens, and they would suffer losses worth crores if workers leave Punjab and go back to their home states.
Gurmeet Singh Kular, president of Federation of Industrial and Commercial Organisations (Fico), has already lodged a protest with railway minister Piyush Goyal to stop transportation of workers from one state to another via trains.
Speaking to TOI, Kular said, “On the one hand, the government is asking industry to operate, and on other hand, it is giving permissions to labourers to go to their native states. Both these decisions are contradictory, and this will have an adverse effect on the industry. Allowing workers to go from one state to another at this time is not a wise move otherwise too, considering the fact that the danger of Covid-19 has hit its peak.”
He added, “Passenger trains should not be allowed to operate at least till 45 days after the lockdown is open. It is really worrisome that such a huge number of people from UP and Bihar have registered to go back to their states from Punjab, and there is no doubt that a majority of the 2,79,103 registered to go back to both these states are migrant workers. If they all leave from Punjab, the result will be disastrous, as then there will be another lockdown for the industry, which will be fatal for us and the nation’s economy.”
Kular also added, “So, it is our humble request to the government that before proceeding further in this case, the serious implications should be studied deeply, as it will leave industry in peril. Moreover, we also request the central government and railways not to allow the movement of trains as of now, and start them only after 45 days of opening the lockdown. They should allow industry to operate for this duration.”
According to Jagbeer Sokhi, president of Sewing Machine Development Club, “Out of the 2,79,103 people who have applied to go back to UP and Bihar, there are women and children as well, and then there are people who are not factory workers, but even after subtracting this number, the factory workers would be easily be more than 50% of the total number. This is happening as panic has gripped the workers, who desperately want to go back home now.”
He added, “I think if they go back now, they will not return at least for six months, and some of them may not return at all. Workers have every right to choose what to do, and we cannot force them to stay, but if such a large number of workers leave Ludhiana, factories will not be able to reopen ever, as we are totally dependant on migrant workers. So, the government needs to do something at the earliest, and may be introduce some incentives for migrant workers who opt to stay back in Punjab.”