Tirupur textile workers want ESIC to pay minimum wage as units remain shut

Write to PM Modi, Finance Minister to express their woes; Tirupur has about 500,000 direct and indirect employees

Workers in Tirupur's textile industry have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, urging them to get the Employees' State Insurance Corporation to pay them wages, as their employers have shut down units in compliance with the nationwide lockdown.

In the letter, which has also been sent to the Minister of State for Labour and Employment Santosh Kumar Gangwar, and ESIC Director General Anuradha Prasad, the workers said they are covered under the ESIC Scheme and expect the Corporation to come forward to help them tide over the crisis.

The Covid-19 outbreak forced a lockdown of all industries,