Migrant worker COVID-19 exodus plunges India's factories into crisis

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Migrant worker COVID-19 exodus plunges India's factories into crisis

Skilled workers who operate the machines fled India's cities amid the coronavirus lockdown

Published: June 07, 2020 17:17 AFP and Compiled by Christian Borbon, Digital Content Editor

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Copy of 073917-01-08-1591535642619 — An acute shortage of workers has turned the roar of machines to a soft hum at a footwear factory near New Delhi, just one of thousands in India struggling to restart after an exodus of migrant workers during the virus lockdown. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 073923-01-08-1591535631940 — India is slowly emerging from strict containment measures imposed in late March as leaders look to revive the battered economy, but manufacturers don't have enough workers to man the machinery. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 073915-01-08-1591535636949 — The big cities - once an attractive destination for workers from poor, rural regions - have been hit by reverse migration as millions of labourers flee back to their far-flung home villages, some uncertain if they will ever return. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 073922-01-08-1591535628344 — "Sixty percent of our labourers have gone back. How can we run a production unit with just one-third of our workforce?" asked Sanjeev Kharbanda, a senior executive with Aqualite Industries, which owns the footwear factory in the northern state of Haryana. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 073914-01-08-1591535634542 — Kharbanda said the company's sports shoe unit had been sitting idle as there were no skilled workers to operate the high-tech machines. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 073921-01-08-1591535653476 — "We are running just one shift now. The cost of production has gone up and our profits are going down," he said, a conveyor belt carrying semi-finished flip-flops running slowly in the background. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 073919-01-08-1591535647954 — A non-operational conveyor belt as production slowed down at the Aqualite footwear factory in Bahadurgarh in the northern Indian state of Haryana. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 073916-01-08-1591535639703 — Labourers packing shoes on a production line at the Aqualite footwear factory in Bahadurgarh in the northern Indian state of Haryana. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 073920-01-08-1591535651109 — A non-operational conveyor belt as production slowed down at the Aqualite footwear factory. | In Gujarat state's Surat city - where 90 percent of the world's diamonds are cut and polished - many factories have been unable to open after more than two-thirds of workers fled, Surat diamond association president Babu Kathiriya told AFP. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 073918-01-08-1591535645225 — The economy is forecast to grow at its slowest pace in 11 years, and analysts are bracing for a severe contraction in the current quarter. Image Credit: AFP

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