Jamshedpur, Jan. 11: Traditionally, Tusu, one of the popular festivals of the state bring immense joy and happiness to the people, particularly tribals of Jharkhand but for the industries and or for that matter the owners of the scores of eateries in the city these three days of the festival carry huge losses to them.
The three days starting from January 13 to 15 precisely and, in some cases even a week, the small and medium industries literally close down their production, as most of the labourers go on Tusu holiday to their native places.
Moreover in Jamshedpur 80 percent of the hotels that include tea stalls, small and medium scale eateries and few of the popular restaurants pull down their shutters for three consecutive days at least, as it is genuinely difficult for them to run their business in the light of fewer work force.
In the light of nearly 70 per cent of the workers likely to on leave for 10 days tentatively from January 13 most of the labour intensive manufacturing firms in the Asia�s leading industrial hub have decided to make up the potential loss through additional production before hand.
In addition to this several of the enterprises have planned to offer fiscal incentives to the labourers to hold them back on job during the upcoming crucial 10 days.
�Given the fact that labour shortage is going to hit the industries during Tusu festival several of the firms have decided on alternative mechanism to make up the potential loss,� said an official of Adityapur Small Industries Association (ASIA).
According to industry insiders, about 40,000 workers go on leave enmasse for about 10 days to their native place for celebrating the festival owing to which the industry at large incur production loss roughly to the tune of over Rs 25 crore.
�The irony is that we cannot employ temporary workers for the time being in place of our regular workers as it would lead to unrest among the workers,� said Bharat Vasani, senior functionary, Singhbhum Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI).
The companies operating in the Adityapur Industrial Area Development Authority�s jurisdiction employ workers largely from the fringe areas of the Seraikela district so therefore during the festival season, especially during the Tusu festival, majority of the workers go home to be with their families and enjoy the celebration.
Owners of industrial units at Adityapur reel under lack of works force and industrialists said that it would take a week to resume normal production.
Officials of Adityapur Small Scale Industries Association (ASIA) S.N. Thakur said that like every year this year too the labourers would be on leave for the tribal festival.
The festival also creates problems at the Tata Motors ancillary units based in AIA that have been set steep targets. Around 70 per cent of the units in AIA manufacture spare parts for the automobile giant.
