Labour shortage hits steel town

Surinder Bhardwaj

Fatehgarh Sahib, June 8

Though industrialists of the steel town of Punjab — Mandi Gobindgarh — have started production in their units, the shortage of labour has greatly affected them. Not only are they finding it difficult to get skilled and unskilled labour, but the labourers available have also started asking for more wages.

Those who used to charge Rs 100 to Rs 150 per tonne for loading and unloading of iron goods in the trucks have now started charging between Rs 250 and Rs 350.

Mohinder Pal Gupta, president, Furnace Association, rued they had provided food for labourers during the lockdown and on the directions of the government, had paid their salaries too, but now as the factories had started functioning, labourers were “blackmailing” them.

He said the exodus of labour had caused great losses to them. He said they had urged the government to cancel the trains so that they do not go away but now, the huge amount spent by the government, industrialists and NGOs on them had “gone down the drain”.