Hubballi industrialist pays air fare for labourers to restart his leather unit

A leather industrialist from Hubballi is going to pay air-fares for at least 10 technical and non-technical workers from West Bengal and Chennai to ensure that his industry, which has remained shut for more than seven months, reopens.

L N Leather Industries owner Chandrakanth Gadikar said that he paying air-fares and other facilities for highly skilled workers from other states is a desperate measure for him to keep his newly started company afloat.

In February, Chandrakant had invested Rs 78 lakh to start his company in Gamanagatti and Tharihal Industrial Area, on the outskirts of Hubballi city, after the State government announced subsidy for members of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes to start their leather industries. Of the total investment, he spent Rs 25 lakh to purchase machines and equipments, while he spent another Rs 10 lakh to purchase raw materials. He had even hired skilled labourers to start his venture.

However, with the Union government enforcing strict lockdown across the country in March, Chandrakanth was forced to keep his unit shut for more than seven months after a few days of trail work. The labourers, majority of whom were from West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, returned to their home towns.

Speaking to DH, Chandrakanth, who is also the secretary of North Karnataka SC/ST Industrialist Development union, said Kolkata is known for its leather industries and the labourers, both skilled and unskilled, from that region have vast knowledge about the leather industry and they work for lesser salaries.

“The kind of skill sets that labourers from West Bengal bring to the table is unmatched by the local workers,” he said and added that he is forced to bring such skilled workers from Chennai (who have trained at Central Footwear Training Institute) and Kolkata by paying their flight tickets. He is also providing accommodation for such workers at his unit.

To become less dependant on ‘outside’ workers, Chandrakant has now decided to train at least 25 local workers.

Similar trend

Not just Chandrakanth, many of the industrialists in Gamanagatti and Tharihal Industrial area, are now contemplating to pay the flight fare of the skilled labourers from outside states to ensure that their units start running again.

The industrial area in Hubballi houses Aluminium Window frame manufacturing units, plastic manufacturing units, racks, grills and other steel manufacturing units. Majority of these units were dependant on skilled and ‘cheap’ labourers from Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha and West Bengal. The industrialists are looking for various means to bring these labourers to work.