Manpower crunch: Netaji Apparel Park yet to become fully operational

The idea of another similar park in Tirupur may be dropped

With more than one-fourth of the total 54 units in the Netaji Apparel Park (NAP) at Tirupur yet to start their operations due to a shortage of skilled labour and infrastructural hurdles like insufficient water supply and power cuts, the idea of setting up another such park here is hanging fire now.

Earlier in 2005, R Poornalingam, secretary of union textile ministry, had said that with the sucessful completion of the NAP under the Apparel Park scheme of the Central government, another such park may also come up in Tirupur to boost the knitwear exports from the town.

However, considering the present scenario, this is unlikely to materialise, according to industrial sources.

Promoted by the Tirupur Exporters' Association (TEA), NAP was inaugurated in January 2005. It houses 60 industrial buildings with 20 lakh sq ft built-up area. Of the 54 industrial houses in the NAP, only 32 are operational now. The park was expected to generate employment for about 20,000 persons but the headcount is only around 8,000 now.

"Although the overall scenario of the industry appears bright with the export levels touching a new high, certain factors like infrastructural problems and manpower crunch seems to hamper the growth of the industry," S Sakthivel, executive secretary, TEA, told Business Standard.

Though the industry is witnessing more investments, more orders and more expansion activities, it is reeling under manpower shortage. "We experience a labour shortage of around 10-15 per cent that works out to around 25,000 persons," he added.

Elaborating on this, he said that although the workers were being paid well, the poor or inadequate infrastructural facilities and higher rentals had led to many workers leaving the town.

"Moreover, the labourers are feeling increasingly good about the prospects in agriculture due to the sufficient rains that the region recieved recently. This has made them quit their jobs in the industry and settle down for agriculture," Sakthivel said.

The association had submitted a proposal to the state and the Union governments as well as the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board to do the needful to ensure better supply of water.

A cross section of the exporters feel that unless the government takes necessary steps to overcome the infrastructural hurdles, the industry would be in doldrums.