The Hindu Business Line : 7 lakh workers lose livelihood in Ahmedabad

WORKERS are the worst victims of violent incidents in Gujarat and have suffered massive loss of incomes so far, in addition to the continuing threat posed by the process of globalisation, according to representatives of trade unions.

On a very conservative estimate, nearly seven lakh workers - many of them daily wage earners - engaged in several organised and unorganised sectors of business activity have been affected in Ahmedabad city alone for the past six weeks or so following communal tension, Solidarity Center, a collective of trade unions, has said.

"A reasonable estimate of the daily loss to the workers of Ahmedabad alone is more than Rs 5 crore per day for the past 45 days and it still continues,'' Mr Mahesh Upadhyaya, Convenor of Solidarity Center said.

Most workers belonged to sectors such as powerloom/ textile mills, garment, construction, diamond, bidi, agarbati, auto-driving, restaurants and so on. These are apart from a large number of workers in the agricultural and related activities in rural areas.

After visiting some of the labour-dominated areas affected by recent events, more than a dozen trade unions in the tension-packed city came together earlier this week to express solidarity with the working class of Gujarat.

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