With Malappuram and Kozhikode districts, the major footwear production centres in the State, falling within the COVID-19 red zone, industrialists are keeping their fingers crossed about the possibility of reopening the units during the lockdown.
Industry sources said here that representatives of the All India Footwear Makers Union had interacted with Union Minister for Small Industries Nitin Gadkari on Saturday and expressed their worries about the industry’s future and the way to go about during the lockdown.
While the unit owners are eager to begin work at the earliest, there are apprehensions that with everything else at a standstill on account of the pandemic that does not look completely under control, operating the footwear units alone would not be of much help.
There are around 115 footwear units and 400-odd auxiliary units depending on these units across the State. But most of them are concentrated in Kozhikode and Malappuram districts. These districts fall within the red zone and normal life is expected to be back only after the end of the lockdown.
A. V. Sunilnath, Kozhikode district president of the Kerala State Small Industries Association, said the unit owners too were in a dilemma about following the social distancing norms even if the units are allowed to open up before the end of the lockdown.
The functioning of the units can be normal only with the restoration of public transport, that will allow free movement of goods and people, he added.
It is estimated that around 25,000 people work in the footwear units that also provide indirect employment to thousands of others in the State. These units account for a total business of around ₹3,500 crore annually.
