With industries facing shortage of labour, states like Goa, Karnataka and Telangana are appealing to migrant workers to stay put.

The Cyberabad police in Telangana has asked migrant workers not to leave while the lockdown is in force.

Labour intensive activities such as construction have been restarted in the state and workers have been assured that all measures will be taken to house and feed them and their families.

But, many small companies are running out of cash and struggling to pay salaries.

In Ahmedabad, the district labour officer has issued a circular warning companies that they will face criminal cases if they cut salaries or delay salary payments for April.

Meanwhile, taking a U-turn, Karnataka has announced it will restart trains for migrant workers from May 8. The state faced flak for cancelling trains citing need to revive the economy.

But, MSMEs in Karnataka say that only 25 percent of companies have been able to restart operations due to acute labour shortage and as many as 50 percent of MSMEs could be forced to shut down without any relief from the government.

Shereen Bhan spoke to Jagadish Shettar, Minister of Industries from Karnataka, Sangita Reddy, president at FICCI, joint MD at Apollo Hospitals Group, K Srikanth, director of Alfa Rubber & Springs, convenor of MSME Panel CII Tamil Nadu and JN Mangla, president - SME Gurgaon Industrial Association, on this burning issue.

First Published:May 7, 2020 8:10 PM IST