Karnataka   

Is Nanjangud losing its industrial buzz?

— PHOTO: M.A. SRIRAM

In the doldrums: A view of Thandya Industrial Estate at Nanjangud in Mysore district.

NANJANGUD (MYSORE DISTRICT): With Flair Garments declaring lockout on last Saturday, the number of jobless labourers in Nanjangud Industrial Area has increased by 800. The garment factory has become one of the “sick’ industries in Thandya Industrial Estate here.

As many as seven industrial units including Sujatha Textile Mills, Dunford Fabrics, Karim Silks, Kabini Papers, Biligiri Industries, Sridevi Packaging and Mysore Panel Boards were closed down in the past 15 years, allegedly due to changes in the economic scenario, lack of administration, incompetence in handling crisis, maintenance of poor quality and competition in the market. Ramaprasad, president of the Nanjangud Industrial Association, said that continuance of the trend would make Nanjangud a “graveyard of industries.”

It was time for the government agencies to create a harmonious atmosphere to attract investment, he said. Till recently, Nanjangud that is about 21 km from Mysore was a bustling industrial centre with hundreds of its residents employed in over 50 industries. But the impact of globalisation and the emphasis of successive governments on free market made a negative impact on the flourishing industries recently.

While the managements attribute the crisis to labour unrest, workers’ unions blame it on “anti-labour” policies. The closure of industries has left more than 7,000 people without any source of livelihood, according to them. Trade union leaders said that economic policies of successive governments had unleashed forces inimical to the interests of the working class. The labour laws had been simplified so as to benefit the industrialists, they said.

Mysore Industries Association secretary Suresh Kumar Jain told The Hindu that according to a survey conducted by the Union Government, 30 per cent of the industries in Mysore region had been closed down and another 30 per cent sick. Only 40 per cent of the industries was functioning.

Sources in the District Industries Centre said that over 1.72 lakh labourers were working in 35,767 industries in Mysore, Mandya and Chamarajanagar districts. Mr. Jain refused to accept the argument that the manufacturing industry is sick. The land mafia, which would have got the land allotted for industrial purposes, were disposing it off by declaring the units as sick, he said.

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