Chennai, March 20 (IANS) The Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) of the two major industrial hubs of Tamil Nadu — Coimbatore and Tiruppur — are hit as the migrant workers from North India have not returned after vacation.
Several MSME industries in Coimbatore are not able to meet the deadline of orders and this has affected the business.
K.M. Guruswamy, owner of KRM industries, Coimbatore which is an MSME outfit taking sub-contract of major companies while speaking to IANS said, “The MSME sector is facing difficulty in these areas as there is a staff shortage. Most of the migrant workers, who had left home for Holi, have not come back. Many have not returned due to the fear of false news that was spread about the migrant workers being attacked in the state.”
However, C. Sivakumar, President of Coimbatore Tiruppur District Micro and Cottage Entrepreneur Association (COTMA) while speaking to IANS said that this was a regular phenomenon during the Holy holidays. He said that there is around six lakh migrant workforce in Coimbatore and Tiruppur areas and that 35 to 40 per cent of the workforce leaves for home during the period and they return a bit late.
While there is a general trend of migrant workers delaying their return after Holi vacation, this year several workers have delayed their return due to the fear of the fake news being circulated about the migrant workers being attacked in Tamil Nadu.
The industrial associations of Coimbatore and Tiruppur have requested the railway ministry to operate special trains from North Indian states to bring the workers back to Tamil Nadu.
COTMA president, C. Sivakumar in a petition to the Union Railway Minister, Ashwini Kumar said, “The migrant workers, who have left for their homes in North Indian states due to Holi vacation and their returns are delayed due to trains running full and heavily crowded. Therefore the central government should run special trains and felicitate their returns at the earliest.”
Muthuraman, an industrialist in Coimbatore said that the state government must provide training to the local people and persuade them to take up work in MSME units so that the dependence on the migrant workers is less.
–IANS
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