Workers employed in jewellery, garment sectors outside state return after losing job

Centre’s decision on demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes is leading to unemployment as hundreds of youth who work in the jewellery manufacturing and garment sectors in other states started returning to Bengal after losing their jobs.

At the same time, people from the neighbouring states who rely on the state’s building construction business are also going back home.

Hundreds of youth from different parts of the state including Howrah, Hooghly, Burdwan, Murshidabad and some parts of North Bengal went to other states to earn their livelihood. They mainly went the states including Hyderabad, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan.

A large section of the youth turned jobless overnight with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of demonetisation of notes. Left with no other option, a large section of them came back home and are running from pillar to post in search of work.

With the announcement of demonetisation, the cash flow had got restricted and it resulted in a sharp fall in buying capacity of people. The demand of different products including that of jewellery had dropped. As a result, the employers of these youth had failed to give them any work. The employers had incurred loss in giving their wages for the initial few days as there was no work order. Thus, they decided to ask the workers to quit their jobs.

Since they work on daily-payment basis, they had no other option apart from coming back home as the employers had already made their stand clear that it would not be possible for them to continue giving out wages. But the employers assured them that they would be reabsorbed with increase in the flow of work order in future.

Similarly, people from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and other states who work in the building construction sector in Bengal have also started losing their jobs.

Work in many on-going projects came to a standstill due to the restricted flow of money. Contractors asked the workers to go back home as there was no work. The work has been stopped because the contractors do not have money to give them their daily wages.

Meanwhile, the plan of state government to provide Rs 10,000 to farmers in Singur to buy small tools required for agriculture purpose is yet to get executed due to the demonetisation of notes.

Sources in the state agriculture department said that they have the required money to give to the 

farmers. But the fair from where the farmers could buy the equipments cannot be organised due to the demonetisation issue.

The Hooghly district authority is preparing the list of farmers who would get the grant and further steps would be taken after the list is prepared and sent to the state agriculture department.