Fifteen factories in the Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor have sought the Labour Office’s permission to “temporarily lay-off” workers and staffers, citing a sharp drop in production as a result of the prolonged Tarai unrest and shortage of raw materials.

Birgunj Labour Office chief Nokh Bahadur Basnyat said the office has received a flurry of such applications for the past two weeks.

A temporary lay-off means employees and workers are not provided full salaries by their employer and the situation is expected to be for a time being. Normally, factory owners provide only half of the monthly salaries to the workers under the provision.

“Some factories have even given the actual number of the workers and employees to be temporarily laid off,” said Basnyat. “After undergoing necessary documentations and processes, we will recommend to the Department of Labour for further action.”

Because of the raw material shortages caused by India-imposed trade embargo on Nepal, nearly 2,000 factories along the corridor are finding it hard to survive. Most of them have halted their production.

Although raw materials in small quantities were supplied to the factories from the Sirsiya Dry Port under police escort, the industries that rely on fossil fuel during load-shedding have not been able to operate in fill capacities.

According to estimates of Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the factories are incurring Rs600 million losses daily. Since the Tarai unrest, the accumulated losses so far have been estimated at around Rs50 billion.

“Ashok Steels and Nepal Cable recently closed down due to the raw material shortage. Shalimar Cement is also on the verge of closure,” said Min Prasad Apagain, coordinator of the Federation of All Nepal Trade Union in Bhojpura. “Nearly 50,000 daily wage earners have been affected by the Tarai unrest.”

Two multinationals hit hard

PARSA: Two multinational companies—Dabur Nepal and Surya Nepal—in the Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor have also been affected by the Tarai unrest and India’s trade embargo on Nepal. These factories are operating partially, according to industry sources. Dabur has been operating only half of its plant, while Surya is facing imminent closure. Surya normally imports all of its raw materials from countries other than India. (PR)