Thousands of industrial workers lose jobs

A large number of workers and daily wagers have lost their jobs in the wake of closure of industries in Faisalabad due to five days a week gas loadshedding. Expressing resentment over new load management plan, Wasim Latif, Chairman and Adil Manzoor Elahi, Vice Chairman Pakistan Textile Exporters Association talking to newsmen said on Tuesday, recent stoppage of gas for the industries has created enormous problems for the exporters and also thousands of daily wagers have become jobless.
Loadshedding of gas for up to five days a week for industries will have bad impact on the economy, they said and criticised that the government had adopted a discriminatory policy for the industries of Punjab, as supply of gas to Punjab had been halted for only two days a week, whereas the other areas of the country were enjoying uninterrupted supply of gas.
The textile industry was badly affected by this action of gas authorities and industrialists are facing great problems in maintaining production cycles. Under the current situation of load management plan, a majority of daily wagers are left with no work, as a result they are not even able to earn money to feed their families, they said. Under the current situations, industries are even forced to lay off their permanent staff and labour to keep their costs at a minimum, and despite such drastic measures, the industries are still not able to meet their costs and some of them are forced to run their operations in losses.
The chairman PTEA said that in case of closure of industries, a worsened law and order situation would emerge due to unemployment of large number of labour force, which will give further rise to inflation. He said that the government had approved 2-day gas suspension to industry but they were experiencing 5-day gas loadshedding which was unaffordable for them. If this practice was not stopped, they will be forced to close down their operations, as neither they can afford to remain in business without production activities nor they can pay their workers by making them sit idle for 5 days a week, he said. He demanded that decision of 5-day a week loadshedding should be taken back immediately and gas should be supplied to the industries for at least 5-days a week.
Elahi said that industrialists were doing everything to keep the wheel of economy running; however, the government was not paying heed to their problems due to which they have been pushed to the wall. He said that industry is providing jobs 40 percent of total labour force apart from paying good amount of tax to the national kitty. But cold shoulder approach of the government was hurting their businesses forcing many industrial units to close down, which could render large number of workers jobless. Elahi said that as if the existent threats of electricity loadshedding, high mark-up rates, high inflation rates, and the ever deteriorating law and order situation were not enough for the industry, which was barely surviving due to the circumstances; this new threat of gas loadshedding will cripple the industry altogether unless immediate action is taken by the government to resolve this very critical issue.