Textile mills in south India, which are facing a high rate of attrition, plan to conduct a job fair at Agartala on April 25-26 to recruit workers directly. About 2,500 textile mills in the south employ close to 7 lakh workers, of which more than 60% are migrants. Southern India Mills’ Association chairman P. Nataraj said the association recently conducted a study on the challenges mills faced in employing these workers. A migrant worker stays at a unit for just 7-9 months and leaves. This affects almost 30% of the production, he said.
These is no process to verify the profile of the workers and the mills are unable to find out if a worker who goes home will return to work or not. The migrants need to be trained not only in work but also in workplace systems. Hence, it was decided to conduct job melas (fairs) in different States where the mills can recruit directly, he said.
The association had written to various States and the Tripura Government responded immediately. Seven textile mills would take part in the fair with an aim to recruit about 4,000 workers. “This is on a trial basis and the candidates can join work immediately. There are several schemes of the Central government under which the mills will train the workers for three months and then induct them as operators,” Mr. Nataraj said. The State government has extended support for the initiative. It will identify eligible candidates village-wise and verify their details. Just a group of villages are taking part in the job mela initially

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