Baddi caught in a bind

LABOUR TROUBLE: A 75 per cent local workforce norm and shortage of skilled workers have become a bottleneck for this upcoming industrial belt.

The Himachali workforce today finds itself in an enviable situation "" most of them can boast of more than one job offer on hand. And for once, the corporates are chasing them and not the other way round.

All thanks to a state government policy that states that at least 75 per cent of the labour employed by units coming up in the Baddi-Baritiwala-Nalagarh belt have to be local.

But the corporates that have relocated to the area lured by the tax free regime are none too happy with the situation.

About 700 new manufacturing units relocated in the last two years to the area. The local recruitment clause is proving to be a bottleneck, as most of the labour in the state is inclined to work for the tourism industry and in the colder climes. The boys from hills are not keen on migrating to the warmer Baddi area.

As the number of units rise, poaching among rival units is increasing. Says Neeraj Saluja of Saluja Exports, "I put up my textile unit in 2000 and things started going from bad to worse on the labour front from 2004 onwards, when a number of units trooped in creating a big market for the semi-skilled labour."

Inder Dev Musafir, director M&B Footwears, complains about the rising cost of training labour. "We get trainers from Mumbai or Delhi to polish labour skills and they spend 4-6 weeks in training. No sooner is the labour trained, they are poached by someone else. This is becoming a major threat to the existing units."

Musafir says that the only lasting solution would be to reduce the present 75 per cent norm to a more realistic level.

Several units have begun giving various incentives to the workers - for instance, Mamta Agro Foods offers complimentary meals on the premises. A senior official in the company said that this, and helping ing with the relocation, have helped to retain the workforce to some extent.

According to data from the state industries department, on November 2006, 13,370 Himachali and 13,368 non-Himachali workers were employed in Baddi, corroborating the non-availability of local labourers.

President of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh belt, AR Singh says that a large number of Himachalis are working in the government sector and are averse to moving to the corporate sector.

To overcome the problem and woo the hill boys to Baddi, the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh Industries Association and the Confederation of Indian Industry (Northern Region) have decided to put up a job festival at Solan.

The festival will highlight the emerging prospects in the private sector and is the first such effort in the state since the proliferation of industry in Baddi started two years ago.