Aurangabad, May 15:
Due to corona and lockdown, 70 per cent of industries in Paithan MIDC have been struggling to get work. As a result, thousands of workers are on the verge of getting unemployed. Many workers have taken loans from various financial institutions and private banks.
The Paithan MIDC was established in 1976. Due to the abundant water supply from Jayakwadi dam, the MIDC developed rapidly in the early days. Today, Paithan MIDC has a total of 120 industries, out of which only 35 are operational at present, sources said. There are 5,000 to 6,000 workers in these factories. The second wave of coronavirus has shut down engineering and oxygen-based industries from April 17 as the state government has ordered to manufacture oxygen only for medical use. Hence many industries who rely on oxygen as a raw material are struggling to get production lines running. This has left an unprecedented crisis for the workers who now face unemployment. Many of the workers have taken loans from various financial institutions and moneylenders and now are unable to pay installments. Similarly, their family members are also suffering as it is getting difficult to manage daily expenses. The workers are now waiting for the end of the lockdown.
Such a crisis for the first time
After the establishment of Paithan MIDC, small and big disputes took place between workers and company management over the past few years. But the dispute was settled and the work continued. But for the first time in history, the industrialists and workers of Paithan MIDC have found themselves in such a major crisis, said industrialists Rajesh Kadam.