Parul
As per news reports, the garment manufacturing and exporting companies in Gautam Budh Nagar district have informed the district administration and the state government that due to lack of funds, they will not be able pay salaries to their workers for the month of April.
In wake of this, at least 10 lakh workers, both skilled and semi-skilled will be impacted. Lalit Thukral, the president of Noida Apparel Exports Cluster (NAEC) stated, “the apparel and textile industry in the district, like in other places, is already plagued by the global crisis caused by Covid-19 outbreak. It is the high time that the government came up with a special relief package for this industry,” he added.
Meanwhile, the recent advisory of the government has stated that wages must be paid by employers even during the lockdown period.
Regarding the arrangement of wages to workers, the NAEC president has said that instead of pressuring the exporters, the government should look to other ways of making their payments regularly.
Lalit Thukral, the president of Noida Apparel Exports Cluster further quoted, “the apparel industry of Noida alone deposits around Rs 10 crore per month in the Employees’ State Insurance (ESI). Since it is a self-financing social security and health insurance scheme for Indian workers, and the fund there is managed by the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation.”
As per the rules and regulations stipulated in the ESI Act, 1948, the government must order this organisation, to make regular monthly payments to workers associated with the apparel and textile industry,” he added.
He also said that in Noida region itself, around 10 lakh people are employed through the apparel sector and the region exports garments worth over Rs 18,000 crore annually and this lockdown has affected around 3,000 export units in the district.
He also commented that due to outbreak of the Covid-19, most of the export orders have either been cancelled or put on hold, besides the consignments already shipped have also been stuck. Even the apparel manufactured against the order are also lying in the factories because of the ban on movement/transport. The situation has become grave as we have yet not got any receipt of payment from the buyers,” he added.
