‘MSMEs burnt their fingers but govt support remained missing’

Neeraj Bagga

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, May 12

The Covid-19 pandemic-induced economic and social uncertainty has forced entrepreneur Rajiv Arora to close his warp knitting unit and switch to fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG).

“There is no point in waiting for the revival of the industry when the priority of people has changed and the government is not ready to extend any support. We have the machines and will resume the operation only after complete normalcy returns,” said Rajiv, an IIT Delhi alumnus.

He said, “Warp knitting is a fashion fabric. Amid the pandemic, certain restrictions have been imposed on holding parties and various such events and thus this fabric is no more on people’s priority list.”

“No industry can survive without the support of the government,” he said, adding that it was more applicable to the warp knitting industry which was gradually being put into existential crisis by the challenges posed by Gujarat and Bangladesh. Also, many local skilled labourers were shifting to Gujarat to increase their income.

He said, “Manufacturing and trading in luxury fabric has become risky. On the other hand, trading in the essential commodities of the FMCG was much secure. Since it is the second year of the pandemic, MSME units burnt their fingers but the government support remained missing.”

Rajiv, who had left his lucrative job in a leading pharmaceutical unit to join his father Mohan Lal Arora in setting up a warp knitting fabric unit, said earlier, he had worked with Pfizer in its Mumbai and Chandigarh offices. About resumption of the unit he said it was not possible at least this year as the reports of the third wave of the pandemic were percolating.

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