The NOIDA administration said that shops, industries and factories closed because of the lockdown will have to give daily wage along with leave to their workers and labourers during the closure period.
The order has come amid reports of thousands of daily wage earners leaving for their homes, towns and villages due to a 21-day countrywide lockdown called by the Centre. Gautam Buddh Nagar District Magistrate B N Singh said the Uttar Pradesh government has already declared the pandemic as a “disaster” and the lockdown has been called with an objective to contain the virus from spreading.
All such shops, commercial facilities and factories, which have been closed temporarily because of the order of the state government or the district administration, will provide paid leave to their workers and labourers for the duration of the closure,” he said in the order.
Arrangement should be made by such establishments to dole out the payments to their workers and labourers on March 30 and 31 or April 3 and 4, depending on their situation to make the payment, the order stated. Singh said he has invoked the powers vested in him as the district magistrate under the National Disaster Management Act 2005 to issue this order and any violation of it would attract legal action against the offender.
There are more than 3000 garment factories in Noida and this announcement will certainly add to woes of exporters who are reeling under pressure of cancelled order. The situation is very complicated because the industry is now stuck in a vicious cycle where on one hand orders are getting cancelled and there is no scope of new orders coming soon on the other paying wages to all workers is a big challenge.
Moreover, even if the lockdown ends the situation for garment factories will take some time to settle as all workers have either gone back to villages or have left city due to virus scare.
