Noida: Migrant workers return, industrial units hope better production

NOIDA: With ease in Covid-19 curfew restrictions, the migrant workforce has started returning to the Gautam Budh Nagar district to their work

NOIDA: With ease in Covid-19 curfew restrictions, the migrant workforce has started returning to the Gautam Budh Nagar district to their work. Entrepreneurs in the district said they hope for a better production period in coming times and if all goes well, the losses incurred due to the second wave of the pandemic can be compensated for in two months.

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Vipin Malhan, the president of the Noida Entrepreneurs’ Association (NEA), said most of the workers of industries in GB Nagar, who had gone to their hometowns and villages for Holi vacations in March, didn’t return as cases had started to rise around that time.

“As per a rough estimate, the number of migrant workers in GB Nagar is around 0.75 million and over 50% of them either didn’t return after Holi or migrated back during the second wave. Now, with improvement in the situation, entrepreneurs have started calling them back and the workers are also responding very positively,” he said.

Malhan, however, said that the enthusiasm of entrepreneurs might be a short-term affair due to the likelihood of a third wave.

“Entrepreneurs are fighting half-heartedly at the moment, because they had never seen such huge losses or such unforeseen situations. We need at least two months to come out of losses incurred in the second wave as it was not a complete lockdown but a partial curfew. To compensate for the overall losses due to Covid-19, entrepreneurs need to work very hard for at least three years,” he said.

Lalit Thukral, the president of Noida Apparel Export Cluster (NAEC), said that the dearth of workers in post-Holi time is not new.

“Every year, workers go back home before Holi and usually return in mid-May, after the harvesting of Rabi crops in their villages. But this time, they didn’t remain in contact with their employers in fear of Covid-19. Now, however, they have started coming back and it will certainly increase the production of industries to their former strength in GB Nagar,” he said.

When asked about impact on annual turnover, Thukral said that enthused with growing manpower in the apparel sector, overseas buyers have started floating orders.

“Before the Covid-19 outbreak, the annual turnover of the apparel sector in the district was around ₹25,000 crore in the financial year 2019-20, which went down to ₹18,000 crore in fiscal 2020-21. If the response of overseas importers is any indication, it is expected to be ₹18,000 crore in the coming fiscal 2021-22,” he said.

When contacted, Anil Kumar, the deputy commissioner of district industries centre, said the government is providing all support to entrepreneurs to help them exit the deficit faced since the Covid-19 outbreak.

“The government is coming up with new plans to save lives as well as the livelihood of the people. We hope that very soon all industrial units in GB Nagar will start functioning to their full capacity,” he said.