Punjab textile workers: unemployment on the rise due to delay in release of package: APTMA chief

All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) Chairman Aamir Fayyaz has said that unemployment of textile workers is on the rise in Punjab because of the delay in the announcement of textile package by the government. He said over two dozen mills have been closed down in the province while a large number of mills have reduced to their shifts, which has left thousands of textile workers jobless.
He said the exports' data of last four months was showing a constant decline in textile exports but the government is delaying the announcement of textile package since August. "A meeting with the Prime Minister has also proved useless who had given a commitment of resolving textile industry issues in September," he added. He lamented that the month of November is near to an end but there is no clue of any textile package by the government.
He said the government is not announcing a long-term policy for revival of textile industry against India, Bangladesh and China. Resultantly, he added, the share of Bangladesh in the world market has increased to four percent from 1.9 percent in 2006, India five percent from 3.4 percent in 2006, China 40 percent from 27 percent in 2006. "While Pakistan has registered a meagre improvement of 2.2 percent from 1.6 percent in 2006," he said. He further said that in 2020, the projected growth of Bangladesh, India and China would be six percent, seven percent and 56 percent in the world market against 1.4 percent of Pakistan, which stands at 1.6 percent at present.
He said the NEPRA notification suggested that actual cost of electricity is Rs 4.59 per unit while the government is charging Rs 14 per unit from the textile industry by burdening it with the system inefficiencies. He said the textile exports have declined in terms of quantity and value, which is leading to job losses of textile workers. He said the revival of textile mills would be impossible once they closed down their operations due to viability issues. Structures of many mills have turned into godowns, and the land has been utilised for housing societies. He said the menace of terrorism could only be overcome in case the government is serious in curtailing the problem of unemployment. The government should revive the textile industry without any further delay, he added.