Amid early signs of migrant labour movement back to their hometowns, the government is planning to shortly announce targeted steps, including subsidized community kitchens and assured cooking gas supply, to retain migrant workers in the country's key manufacturing hubs, two people in the know said. The proposal, discussed at a finance ministry-led meeting on 8 April, seeks to stabilize labour supply amid rising cost of living and fuel supply constraints due to the Iran war, and to prevent disruption to the vulnerable medium and small industries, they said.
The meeting, conducted in a hybrid-mode, was attended by senior officials from the ministries of finance and MSME as well as industry representatives. It took up a range of issues, including credit guarantees for micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and mechanisms to prevent the retreat of migrant labourers, and ensure uninterrupted supply of gas cylinders without registered connections.
At the meeting, the government assured immediate intervention at different levels to protect MSMEs, and said a relief package is expected to be cleared by the Union Cabinet shortly, said one of the two people cited above.
Clusters identified as ‘vulnerable’ include the ceramics and tiles hub in Morbi in Gujarat, the forging and textiles clusters in Ludhiana, Punjab, the textile manufacturing and export hub in Tiruppur, Tamil Nadu, the textile processing clusters in Surat, Gujarat, and the glass manufacturing cluster in Firozabad in Uttar Pradesh.
This assumes significance given that the MSME sector contributes about 30.1% to India’s GDP and accounts for 35.4% of its manufacturing output and nearly 45% of the country's export.
Community kitchen concept
“The plan is to extend community kitchen services, which are already in operation in several states, to the manufacturing clusters. It may also include setting up new community kitchens with the cooperation of state governments, as well as industry and social groups,” said the second person, adding that it would be initiated with the provision of three meals a day.
Queries sent on Wednesday to the spokespersons of the ministries of finance and MSME remained unanswered until press time.
To be sure, several states run subsidized community kitchen or low-cost meal schemes for workers and the urban poor. Tamil Nadu operates the ‘Amma Unavagam’, while Karnataka runs ‘Indira Canteens’, offering meals at nominal rates. Odisha has ‘Aahar Centres’ and Andhra Pradesh runs the ‘Anna Canteen’ scheme. Madhya Pradesh provides meals under ‘Deendayal Antyodaya Rasoi Yojana’, while Maharashtra operates the ‘Shiv Bhojan Thali’. Rajasthan also runs a similar initiative through the ‘Jan Aahar Yojana’.
These state schemes are mainly operational in cities, and provide a meal for ₹5–10, supporting migrant workers and low-income groups.
A plate for stability
Hailing the move, industry leaders said it is a well thought-out step to ensure availability of workers at India's manufacturing clusters.
“If the government is considering a proposal to provide food to workers at affordable rates at the manufacturing clusters, it will certainly help the industry and allow units to remain operational even during crisis periods," said Nilesh Jetpariya, chairman (ceramic panel) at the Chemical and Allied Products Export Promotion Council. "If needed, the industry will also support the government.”
Apart from worker welfare, he also sought support for the industries. “The government should also intervene in ensuring the supply of gas, which is a key raw material for the manufacture of ceramic products. We would like to draw government’s attention to two key requirements: first, the availability of 75-80 lakh cubic metres of gas from Gujarat Gas. And second, a uniform and reasonable price for all factories in the range of ₹55-60 per cubic metre,” Jetpariya added
According to multiple media reports, over 400 of Morbi's ceramic units, well over half the total, have halted operations due to the gas supply crunch.
Policy experts said government's focus on worker welfare could be key in stabilizing industrial activity amid the crisis.
“The government’s approach indicates a shift towards addressing not just production-side constraints but also worker welfare as a means to stabilize industrial activity, said Amit Singh, an associate professor at the Special Centre for National Security Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. "Ensuring basic services such as affordable food and energy access could play a crucial role in preventing labour attrition and maintaining output levels in MSME-driven sectors.”
Migrant dependence
As per a note submitted by the India SME Forum to the ministries of finance and MSME, multiple clusters with high migrant labour dependence are currently under stress. In Gujarat for instance, Morbi, Surat, Rajkot, Vapi and Ankleshwar support up to 13 lakh workers with 40–70% migrant dependence, and they face high to severe risk.
As per the note, Tamil Nadu’s Tiruppur, Coimbatore, Erode and Sriperumbudur-Oragadam employ 7-11 lakh workers with 25–55% migrants; Uttar Pradesh’s Firozabad, Kanpur, Noida-Greater Noida and Agra support 5-8 lakh workers, with 30–60% migrant dependence are also facing high stress. Maharashtra clusters employ 5-7 lakh workers and are facing moderate to high risk, while Punjab (4-6 lakh) and Haryana (3-5 lakh) face high stress. Rajasthan (2-4 lakh), West Bengal (2-3 lakh), Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka (2-4 lakh each) show moderate stress with 15-45% migrant dependence.
Mint has been reporting on migrant workforce, including those in construction, consumer and manufacturing, retreating to their hometowns due to the cooking gas supply crunch and an increase in the cost of living. On 7 April, it said staffing firms have reported a 10-15% rise in hiring cost for blue-collar roles over the last one month.