Though the Haryana government has allowed industries to resume operations after April 20 to encourage economic activity in the State, garment units in the millennium city are grappling with a shortage of workforce due to restrictions on cross-border movement between Delhi and Gurugram for the past three weeks.
The restrictions have also led to frequent clashes between the workers and the Gurugram Police, who prevent them from entering the district for work. Around 1,000 workers in Delhi’s Salahpur Majra village clashed with the police in Palam Vihar on Wednesday during an attempt to enter Haryana for work.
Komal, 22, a resident of Delhi’s Kapashera, said the Haryana Police had not been allowing workers to enter Gurugram since May 1. She said she worked with Gaurav International and had a movement pass provided by the company to commute to work. The company officials came to facilitate their entry to Haryana for a couple of days, but the police did not allow them after the officials stopped coming, she added.
Sanjeet, a native of Bihar, said the workers would try to enter Gurugram in the early hours to reach their workplaces. “We have been without a job for almost two months now. We are not left with any savings. It is difficult to survive if we are not allowed to go to work,” the Kapashera resident said. He said many of his colleagues had left for their hometowns, and he too would have to leave if the situation persisted.
Mr. Sanjeet said residents of Dundahera village in Gurugram also beat up the migrants from Delhi and did not allow them to go to work.
Working at 20% capacity
Garments Exporters and Manufacturers Association general secretary Animesh Saxena said there were around 400 garment export units in Gurugram operating in Udyog Vihar Phase-I-V and most of them were working at 20% capacity due to shortage of workers. He said the association members called upon the Police Commissioner, but he too expressed his inability to help, citing the high rate of infection in Delhi.
Mr. Saxena added that the district administration had offered to arrange for the lodging of the workers in a government school in Dundahera, but that was not viable for different reasons. “The government must address the genuine concerns of the industry. Even the owners of the garment units were initially not allowed to come to Delhi on a daily basis. The industry cannot run with the cross-border movement restrictions continuing,” he said. He added the migrants would be forced to return to their hometowns in this situation, causing an acute shortage of workforce for months.
Amardeep Dagar, general manager of Richa and Co., a garment export unit, said the management had also offered to ferry the workers in buses from Delhi, but the administration did not relent. He said the Apparel Export Promotion Council, Regional Chairman, North, Virender Uppal wrote to Chief Minister Manohar Lal in this regard on May 15, but there had been no response.
