A Matter Of Thread And Butter: Exodus Of Migrants From Gujarat May Affect State’s Textile Output By 10-15 Per Cent

Recent violence against non-natives in Gujarat, especially those who speak Hindi, is seeing its aftereffects of the exodus. It is said that due to non-availability of migrant workers, textile output is likely to decline by 10-15 per cent, R K Dalmia of Century Textiles and Industries says.

Since the country’s industry hasn’t been automated fully yet, it depends on a large number of migrants from states like UP, Bihar and West Bengal. In the production of synthetic textiles, Gujarat contributes 80 per cent. Those affected by this will mainly be the ones who own small and medium sized industries. About one crore migrant labourers are estimated to be in Gujarat.

Some of the industries claim that the absence of migrants might be due to the festive season and that their return is impending. Confederation of Indian Textile Industry says that nearly 10 crore people earn their livelihoods from the textile industries across the country.

Financial Express quoted a senior official who is closely working with the Ministry of Commerce as saying, “Due to the employment guarantee schemes, workers also find jobs in their home towns. So, many of them return after their leave period gets over, while a number of skilled workers also get migrated to other industries, including agriculture.”