‘Workers crisis causing capacity cut in textile units’

The chamber surveyed about 100 textiles companies in states like Ludhiana,Amritsar,Surat,Ahmedabad and Kolkata.

India’s textiles and clothing industry is in short supply of workers,since they are either shifting to other fast-growing sectors or moving to their native land in rural areas,causing a capacity cut of about 40 per cent in affected units,Assocham said.

“There is a rampant shortage of workers in all segments of textiles value chain,” Assocham Secretary General,D S Rawat said adding that the industry needs to pay higher wages,provide health insurance and ensure that factories comply with internationally acceptable standards.

Nearly 45 per cent of the companies said their units are utilising only 50 to 60 per cent of production capacity due to labour shortage,Assocham added.

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The chamber surveyed about 100 textiles companies in states like Ludhiana,Amritsar,Surat,Ahmedabad and Kolkata.

“About 30 per cent of the companies’ heads said their margins are shrinking as they are not able to meet sales targets,” it said.

About 15 per cent of units are contemplating to shift focus on brand building,while 10 per cent of respondents may soon move production units to interior areas where workers are available at low wages,the chamber said.

The crisis-like situation has emerged at a time when India is losing competitive edge in export markets due to rising input costs amid stiff competition from neighbouring nations like Bangladesh,Sri Lanka,Vietnam,Cambodia,

Indonesia and China,it said.

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Besides,the chamber said,the demand in the traditional markets like the US and European Union is still sluggish.

With massive construction activities in infrastructure projects and real estate sector across the country,many workers have moved away from the textile industry due to low wages and rising cost of living in cities.

At present,about 35 million workers are directly employed in the sector and over 40 million are engaged in the allied industries.

The chamber expects the employment in the industry would touch 47 million by 2015,including five million skilled workers and two million technical and other personnel,if growth projections are to be met.

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It added that the government’s successful social sector schemes like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA),which assures them 100 day wage-employment guarantee in a fiscal,is discouraging labour migration from rural to urban areas.

The chamber asked the government to launch a massive skill development programme to bridge the gap of managerial and technical cadre of professionals for the fibre-to-fashion chain of textile,apparel and retail industries.