Losses mounting, no infra to house workers: Industry

Bathinda
Owners of small and medium scale industrial units are finding themselves in a quandary as a majority of them do not have the required infrastructure and resources for in-house accommodation of workers as mandated by the government in the wake of Covid-19.

‘CAN’T VEAR EXTRA COST’

I cannot afford the additional cost on the accommodation and transportation of workers, especially at this juncture… Not a single case has been reported in Bathinda. The government should give relaxation to the industry.

Raman Watts, Industrialist

Industrialists have sought relaxations from the government saying neither they had the infrastructure nor they could afford to comply with conditions laid down by the government.

MSME owners in Bathinda said unlike big corporates, they had limited resources and low budgets. Talking to The Tribune, Raman Watts, one of the industrialists, said: “I cannot afford to bear additional costs of in-house accommodation and transportation of workers, especially at this juncture. Moreover, a majority of small and medium scale manufacturing units in Bathinda do not have adequate infrastructure or space and stuffing workers inside factories will again compromise the precautionary measure of social distancing. Not even a single positive case of Covid has been reported in Bathinda. The government and administrative machinery could have given relaxations to industry to resume its operations.”

Another industrialist from a transformer-manufacturing firm said, “With permission for only 50 per cent workforce, we will not be able to maintain production flow which will result in increased costs. Also, providing medical insurance for employees will add to the expenses.”

There are more than 227 small, micro and medium scale units whose owners submitted a representation to the state government to intervene in the matter and provide a viable solution.

The industrialists met Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal and demanded a solution to the problem. Badal assured them of taking up the matter during the Cabinet meeting scheduled on April 29.