DECREASE IN CLOSURES AND LAYOFFS IN INDUSTRIES
Closures
and Lay offs in industries
registered a decrease during 1999. According to a survey by the
Labour Bureau, the closures registered a 9.14 percent
decrease while the number of units affected by lay-offs were 18.71
percent less as compared to 1998. However, the number of workers
affected by closures were 17.34 percent more, but the percentage
of workers affected by lay offs was over 25 percent less.
159 cases of closures affecting
15,707 workers were reported during 1999. Of these only one case
of closure in central sector was reported from Assam affecting
21 workers. In the state sphere, the maximum number of 51 closures
were in Punjab with 48 units being closed due to increase in excise
duty. Other causes leading to closures were financial stringency
(33 percent), lack of demand for products (14 percent) and for
the rest of the cases the cause was indiscipline, violence etc.
The maximum number of closures occurred in units manufacturing
rubber, plastic, petroleum and coal products and processing nuclear
fuels.
The number of Lay-offs were
239 affecting 33,710 workers during 1999. This resulted in a loss
of 29 lakh man-days. 13 percent of layoffs were in the central
sphere affecting 9,315 workers and causing a loss of about 75
thousand man-days. The most prominent cause for lay-offs was shortage
of power (31%) followed by lack of demand for products (27%).
The maximum number of lay offs were in units manufacturing cotton
textiles in which 16,779 workers were laid-off resulting in a
loss of 19.35 lakh man days. 64 percent of lay-offs occurred in
private sector, 33 percent in public sector and the remaining
3 percent in cooperative sector
