Construction, textiles industries struggling in absence of migrant workers

With lakhs of migrants back in their home states, the construction and textiles industries have been badly hit due to an intense labour shortage. In spite of lockdown relaxations, industries are facing a tough time operating with limited workforce in the absence of migrants.

New Delhi:As lakhs of migrant workers have returned to their native states since the lockdown was implemented, the infrastructure and textiles industry in the nation is reportedly witnessing intense labour scarcity.

Most of the migrant workers are from the states of Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Bihar. These migrants make up a large chunk of the workforce in textile units and infrastructure-related jobs.

As many lost their livelihoods during the lockdown, they started making the journey back home since the end of March. Even now, many migrants are still returning to their native states through Shramik Special trains.

According to a Builder's Association which has its branches across the nation, about 70 per cent of the migrants are unavailable for construction work now.

"Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharastra, Gujarat and Punjab are the states where migrants workers were involved in construction works. Apart from building, they were also a part in public and private infrastructure projects," said a senior office-bearer of the builders association at Delhi.

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"Because of the lockdown, most of the migrants have returned to their original states. So, we are facing a severe manpower shortage. Though the government had given nod to carry out construction works, we are afraid that many of our projects stand incomplete and it is impossible to finish them this year," the official added.

Similarly, even the textiles industry is facing a severe manpower crunch.

"Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu are the major textile hubs in the country. The migrant workers were involved in dyeing, knitting, housekeeping, and warehouse management works," R Sujan, a Delhi based entrepreneur told the ETV Bharat.

"However, their absence at this point of time has put a halt to our work despite lockdown relaxations. Many of our suppliers say it is very hard to run even a single shift duty for a day," Sujan added.

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