New Delhi, Sept 24 (KNN) Punjab, which is known for its small sized industrial units after agriculture, has been witnessing labour crisis for quite some time. The production activities have reduced due to scarcity of labour in the state.

Talking to KNN India, Badish Jindal, President, Federation of Punjab Small Industries Association (FOPSIA) said, "Both agricultural and industrial sector, mostly MSMEs, of the state are sailing in same boat because of labour crunch issue in the state."

MGNREGA, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Program is one of the main reasons for labour shortage in Punjab as people prefer to do unskilled manual work compared to skilled work, he said.

He said the labour crunch is further aggravated due to migration of labour to other states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Karnataka as they are more industrialized states as compared to Punjab.

He said industrial revolution is greater in northern states like Bihar, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and southern states like Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh and people prefer to migrate in these states for better prospects.

Also, he pointed that labour migrates to their preferred states in search of better infrastructure and standard of living.

He also raised an important point of safety concerns, in which Punjab is way behind.

Jindal pointed that in Punjab generally the labour stays in outskirts area or the areas with substandard population which creates a big challenge of safe mobility from one place to other.

In such areas the safety of workers and their families is a issue. Due to which labour either prefers to move out of the state or prefers to remain at home only, he added.

In Punjab labourers mainly comes from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and during festive season, they go back to their home towns which further adds fuel to the labour scarcity issue, Jindal pointed.

Suggesting measures to address this problem, Jindal said that worker housing colonies should be developed in Punjab keeping their safety issue in mind. Even for women workers, separate women hostels are required in the state.

Various MSME industries in Ludhiana and Chandigarh has been hard hit due to skilled labour shortage due to which demand for labour is more than the supply causing increase in wages.

Punjab MSMEs have sought central government's intervention to link the industrial units of Ludhiana with government-sponsored schemes in order to address the issue of labour scarcity in factories. (KNN/ YV)