Industrialists worried about Bihar elections

Aurangabad, Oct 22:

As the political heat is rising in Bihar over the scheduled state assembly elections there, industrialists in Aurangabad are getting more and more worried. Industrialists fear that the workers might not return till Diwali worsening the workforce shortage in the industrial area.

Now even though all industries have upped the production to 80 per cent, they are still facing an acute staff crunch. The contractual workers and other staff which had gone to their native places are not ready to return to Aurangabad yet, and election-time easy availability of money has held them back. As a result, several industrialists are finding it difficult to run their units even with 50 per cent capacity. Aurangabad has more than three thousand industries while about two lakh people are employed in these industries. Most of the people employed are from Bihar, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh. Industrialists believe that most of the staff would return only after the elections and Diwali season. Also, on the other side, most of the industries have tremendous pressure to fulfil the Diwali orders and rely on the workforce from other states. However, they have to face enormous difficulties due to staff crunch. Most of the industrialists are taking production in round the clock shifts and are offering extra incentives to the workers to complete the orders.

"Bihar elections and the just started festive season has added to the woes of staff crunch. Even though we are calling our staff, they are not willing to return at this point in time. Also, there are some problems regarding the unavailability of transport means" said the president of the Marathwada Association of Small Scale Industries and Agriculture (MASSIA) Abhay Hanchanal.