Ludhiana industry unable to pay labourers’ salaries, seeks govt help

The owners of local industries and business establishments have expressed their inability to pay salaries of labourers due to closure of factories in the wake of coronvirus outbreak.

A day after the administration issued warning to the industry, the owners of these units rued that the government cannot legally force the employers to pay salaries and stop them from layoffs as there is no such provision in either the Disaster Management Act or Epidemic Control Act. Further, the separate provisions for Industrial Dispute Act also overrule this order.

The industry was of the view that the government should use the unutilised funds lying under different government departments/schemes, including ESIC, MGNREGA, Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Yojana etc, for payment of wages and salaries to the staff.

National president of All Industries and Trade Forum, Badish Jindal, said that around 1.70 lakh crore is lying unutilised with the government under different schemes and it should be used to pay the labourers. Rather than putting an extra burden on the industry, the government should step forward to help it come out of this crisis.

President of Janta Nagar Small Scale Manufacturers Association, Jaswinder Singh Thukral, president of Dhandari Industrial Welfare Association, Satnam Singh Makkar and president of Federation of Industrial and Commercial Organisation (FICO), Gurmeet Singh Kular, also opposed the administration’s decision saying that the industry is already burdened with bank installments, property tax, water-sewer charges and fixed charges on electricity bills.

If the sector does not receives any payment then how it is supposed to pay workers, said Thukral, adding that they are already giving ration and subsistence allowance to the labour.

President of Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal, Arvinder Pal Singh Makkar, said that small businessmen are already facing losses as the establishment are closed due to the lockdown and there is no clarity when the restriction will be lifted. The government and the administration should not cause panic among the industrialists, who already suffering losses.

The industrialists rued that even the government departments, including Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), have capped the salary of its employees and have fixed a certain amount, which would be paid to then rather than full salary for the lockdown period.

President of United Cycle and Parts Manufacturer Association, DS Chawla, asked how the government can force the industry even when its own departments are not making full payments to their employees. They understand that everyone, including the government, is facing crisis, then why would they expect the industry to pay salaries, said Chawla.

Deputy commissioner Pradeep Agrawal said the decision has been taken by the central government and if the industrialists are unable to make full payments to the labour, they can give subsistence allowance to the labour for now, so that they can cater to their daily needs.