Labour shortage has become a harsh reality in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak today, especially for the apparel industry that has taken the worst hit owing to the pandemic.
The Noida Apparel Export Centre (NAEC) recently shared the same concern in a letter to the Uttar Pradesh Government, highlighting how the large-scale migration of workers has adversely affected their business.
The letter underlined the immediate need of 2 lakh workers, including tailors, in the city’s readymade garment factories.
NAEC President Lalit Thukral put across a very relevant point in his letter, saying while they appreciate the Government’s move to restart the production units in Noida, factories cannot operate in full swing due to the shortage of manpower, as most of the workers have migrated to their hometowns.
Lalit also mentioned in the letter that Noida cluster alone is home to nearly 3,000 RMG production-cum-export units, currently employing around 10 lakh workers.
He further informed that readymade garments worth Rs. 18,000-20,000 crore are exported annually through these units.
“The Noida RMG cluster immediately requires 2 lakh workers as tailors and supporting hand, and this requirement will further increase to 3 lakh in the next quarter and 4 lakh soon thereafter,” he added.
Talking about the RMG industry’s further expansion plans, Lalit shared that a mega apparel park comprising 150 readymade garment units is soon coming up along the Yamuna Expressway.
He further added that these units will employ about 5 lakh workers.
“Hence on behalf of members in NAEC, I request you to kindly initiate and facilitate the process of providing 2 lakh workforce to our member units at the earliest, which will enable us to function normally and we will immediately make arrangements to deploy them in readymade garment units in Noida region,” Lalit maintained.
