A migrant family from Bihar working at KG Fabriks, Coimbatore. Pic Swarajya Magazine
Coimbatore 3rd March 2023
Tamil Nadu accounts for 45% of yarn produced in the nation and the textile industry provides job opportunities in Tamilnadu (next only to agriculture) for the huge illiterate and poorly educated men and women in a large scale. On the labour front, Tamilnadu is considered to be the leading State in India with regard to availability of skilled labour and maintenance of peaceful industrial relations. Consequent to mushroom growth of industrial units in the State, the industry started facing labour shortage and in order to overcome the same, migrant workers belonging to Bihar, Odisha, Chattisgarh, Uttarkhand, Assam, West Bengal, etc., are coming forward to work in Tamilnadu and such employment is prevalent for more than a decade. The employment of migrant workers is not just confined only to the textile industry but also prevalent in other industrial and service sectors as well.
In a Press Meet held today at Coimbatore, Mr. T. Rajkumar, Chairman, Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) and Mr. Ravi Sam, Chairman, The Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA) jointly addressed the Press. They have stated that there is no discrimination between the local workers and the migrant workers in terms of wages and both of them are treated equally by industry. In fact, the industry is providing hostel accommodation with food based on the needs of the migrant workers. However, in the recent few weeks a section of group and political outfits are making hue and cry over the engagement of migrant workers and demanding that the migrant workers (hailing from North India) should not be permitted to work in Tamilnadu. They further stated that such groups are sowing the seeds of hatred in the minds of working people in Tamilnadu, against the engagement of migrant workers. Such attitude and demand from these sections would pose a danger to the industrially developed State like Tamilnadu and affect the performance of the industry, as a whole. They have pointed out that unless this issue is sorted out in the initial stage itself, it would ruin the industrial growth in the State, when particularly the Government of Tamilnadu is making efforts to bring sizeable investments to the State.
They stated the in reality there is no clash between the migrant workers and the local workers and circulation of WhatsApp news is false and not revealing the true state of affairs. This has been highlighted by the Director General of Police in his video clippings. The video clipping taken in Railway Station has been twisted as if there is a clash between the north Indian and South Indian workers. They informed that on 2nd March 2023, there was a virtual meeting organized by the Coimbatore District Collector among the industry Association wherein, he explained the real position and there is no truth in the so-called clash among the workers, but at the same, steps were being taken to give confidence for the migrant workers to work peacefully in Tamilnadu. Mr.Rajkumar and Mr.Ravi Sam stated that the social media news are spread out of proportion and both the migrant workers and the industry need not panic. They have appealed to the Government of Tamilnadu to take serious action against trouble mongers through the concerned departments and protect the industry and the working class and maintain industrial peace in the State.
