Rajesh (42), a tailor in an apparel factory of Hosiery Complex at Noida which is a hub of garment manufacturing unit, is not feeling comfortable at work from last few days as freezing winter in Delhi-NCR has started to affect day-to-day life workers. “Distance of 5 kilometres from my home to factory by my cycle becomes a big issue in this chilly season and as dense fog will be there in coming days, I am worried how I will be managing then,” he says.
There are lakhs of workers like Rajesh and the problem is almost the same for all of them. But very few are lucky, especially those who have the facility of transportation from factory-owners. North Indian regions like Delhi-NCR, Ludhiana, Panipat, etc. are getting majorly affected due to chilly winter as the lowest minimum recorded in Delhi on Wednesday was 4.2 degrees Celsius. But it is a little happy time for some of the owners of apparel manufacturing units also as they get to make savings on their electricity bills due to off ACs. Also, the winter season increases productivity by bit on shop floor compare to summer season.
“Our factory has bus facility for workers so most of them don’t have to face such problems. More than that we have temperature meters and we keep those at 24 degree Celsius (normal room temperature) so that the workers stay comfortable at work,” told Shalabh Srivastava, GM – Training, Matrix Clothing, Gurgaon, which employs around 5,000 workers. Furthermore, Shalabh opines that productivity enhancement in winter season is there, but as far as 40 paisa per garment saving is concerned, he is not too much sure about that.
On the other hand, small or unorganized industries don’t have such facilities and workers have to manage on their own in winters. None of the factory has special dress for winters or such facility which can be a support to workers in this season. “Whenever we works at night in heavy winter, factory offers us food and some space to stay there for chilled hours,” says Rajkumar working in another factory of Sector 63, Noida.
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On the other side, process houses working with old systems are getting their production delayed as the fabric takes time to dry as there is less sunlight. “There are many such process houses in Bahadurgarh, Loni (Ghaziabad), India that are facing this problem as fabric takes almost 4 to 5 days to get dry,” informs Vinod Jain, Vice President, Barhi Industrial Association, Sonipat, to Team Apparel Resources.
It has also been observed that some factories do face more absenteeism in this season. “We do have all the facilities for workers to take care of them, like we have closed factories, proper ventilation, blower facility, but still absenteeism increases during the 2-3 months of winters,” told Dinesh Kumar Vasisth, Manager HR & Compliance, Raj Overseas, Panipat. Dealing with the same issue, Vipin Gupta, AVP, Personal & Admin, Matrix Clothing avers, “In winters, I notice higher absenteeism as well as higher attrition rate. However, we get much better work efficiency as compared to summers. Shortage of manpower is noticed during this period as many people have not come back after festival/harvesting season in their home towns. Cold & cough problems also increase in this season, as per our Dispensary Record. Generally, in summers we serve lunch to around 400 workers lunch at our canteen, but in winters the number goes up to 500 as they get up late and don’t get time to prepare food.”
But the scene is little different in Ludhiana as the city is a hub of hosiery industry and woollen garments. Ludhiana-based companies prefer winter season to clear their stocks and they are feeling the heat this winter, as the season has arrived a bit late.
