The Hindu Business Line : To meet burgeoning demand — Textile exporters seek longer working hours

WITH the textile order inflow growing by leaps and bounds, many of the country's large textile exporters are seeking an extension of the daily working hours to keep up with the burgeoning demand.

Orient Craft Ltd, one of the country's largest garment exporters, has already written to the Labour Commissioner of Haryana asking for permission to work an additional three hours a day till the time the company is able to set up additional capacities.

A number of other exporters are also planning to seek similar flexibility in working hours to execute the jump in orders, besides asking for a relaxation in labour laws to hire labour for meeting seasonal orders, industry players said.

"Even though a number of textile exporters went ahead with setting up additional capacities in anticipation of increased orders following the quota phase-out, the order inflow since the middle of January has generally exceeded expectations. Unless working hours are made flexible, we would have to turn down some of the orders," said a Delhi-based exporter.

According to industry players, the starting of second shift has so far not been a success in the country because of scarcity of skilled labour.

Hence, companies are looking at the option of getting their existing workers to put in a few extra hours to complete the work on overtime basis.

The exporters, who have so far been putting up individual representations on the issue, are now planning to join forces through various industry bodies in raising the issues of flexibility in working hours as well as relaxation in the hiring norms, they said.

The exporters have also undertaken to adhere to all health and safety regulations laid down by the state Governments during the extended overtime period.

Following the abolition of the export quotas on global textile trade from January 1 this year, textile exporters from Asian countries - mainly India and China - have been the main beneficiaries, with export businesses moving from countries in West Asia, Eastern Europe, and South America to the Asian manufacturing hub.

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