Industrial areas ask for vaccination for workers in the area

New Delhi: Industrial area bodies in the city have requested district administrations to set up vaccination centres or camps for their workers, arguing that the move will help firm owners ease the inoculation process for their staffers

New Delhi: Industrial area bodies in the city have requested district administrations to set up vaccination centres or camps for their workers, arguing that the move will help firm owners ease the inoculation process for their staffers.

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The Centre last week allowed government and private workplaces to set up vaccination centres on campus in a bid to ramp up inoculations.

The Narela Industrial Complex Welfare Association (NICWA), wrote to the northwest Delhi district administration on April 8 in this regard. Ashish Garg, general secretary of the association, said the 4,000-odd units there employed close to 200,000 employees.

Garg said, “If the government agrees, we can help them set up vaccination centres here. We can also mobilise workers who meet the criteria for vaccination. At a time when cases are increasing, it is important that our employees get jabs for free as they are struggling to make ends meet and can’t afford to go to private hospitals. We are yet to hear from the district administration.”

He added, “The medical facility where vaccines are available is a bit far away from our industrial areas. Workers are reluctant to visit hospitals mainly because they don’t want to lose out on the daily wages. If there is a centre here, workers will not have to lose out on day’s work and will also get motivated seeing others getting the vaccine.”

A senior district official with North West Delhi said, “The matter was raised last week in a meeting with Delhi government’s chief secretary. But no decision has been taken on this so far. Currently, we have made special arrangements to take people from industrial areas and villages who meet the criteria to the centres for vaccination. We have put four or five vehicles in services just for this.”

In Udyog Nagar industrial area near Paschim Vihar in West Delhi, the industry association has a medical facility that stakeholders say can be used as vaccination hub. Ashok Gupta, president of the association said, “We have close to 20,000 workers in our industrial area. We have been requesting the district administration to use our centre. We were hoping that our centre would be used during the Tika Utsav. It is important to ensure that labourers are vaccinated,” said Gupta.

Industrial associations said business has only recently started to pick up, even though it is not at the same level as it was before Covid. With the increase in the number of Covid-19 cases once again, industry owners fear reverse migration and want to provide facilities to workers.

“A majority of people working in industrial areas are migrant workers. Last year, they all left for their villages during the lockdown. We don’t want a situation like that again. If they take care of them now by providing facilities such as vaccinations near their workplace, we can avert such a situation,” said Vijay Virmani, president of Delhi manufacturers Federation (which has 24 industrial area associations as members).

Virmani added, “The labourers are reluctant because they feel they will lose out an entire day’s wages if they travel to a vaccination centre. We are planning to write to the Delhi government to request them to allow vaccinations in all industrial areas.”

A senior Delhi government’s revenue department official said, “We are doing institution based vaccination. Opening vaccination centres in industrial areas will help in vaccinating a large population. But the health department has to take a call on it.”

Delhi government spokespersons did not respond to requests for comment