FAISALABAD: With the growing economic recession and the closure of hundreds of businesses, including industrial units, life across the country has become too miserable for the laid-off workforce, with many of them turning to crime.
The industrial sector, rightly regarded as the backbone of our economy, has been the worst hit by the recession, inflation, energy and input prices, with the country losing a valuable organ meant to earn valuable foreign exchange for the national kitty.
Hundreds of thousands of workers lost their jobs after the closure of hundreds of industrial units and the situation forced them to starve or, in extreme cases, opt for criminal activity.
“Faisalabad contributed 60% of the total textile exports and employed 40% of the total workforce in the textile sector,” said Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) Senior Vice President Dr. Sajjad Arshad. “However, now 50 percent of the industrial units are closed due to political uncertainty, inconsistent policies and unprecedented inflation.”
He said the closure of industrial units had fueled large-scale unemployment and feared that jobless people might resort to crime. “The prevailing situation not only deprives the country of much-needed foreign exchange but also threatens overall social peace.”
Considering that the industrial sector alone contributes 57% of taxes and its share of GDP is 18 per cent, according to him, its recession is a severe blow to the national economy as well as food security.
According to All Pakistan Textile Processing Mills Association (APTPM) Central Chairman Muhammad Pervaiz Lala, the export industry has been the mainstay of stabilizing the national economy but has suffered serious setbacks due to many reasons.
“The Regionally Competitive Energy Tariff (RCET) for gas and electricity was suddenly scrapped, resulting in cost multiplication for export-oriented industries by 100% for electricity and 35% for gas,” Lala said.
“It was very problematic that it forced the industrialists to either close their units or bear heavy losses.
Similarly, he said, interest rates rose from 7-8% to 23-24%, refinancing from 6% to 18% and the fast-track sales tax scheme did not work as designed. “All these problems have increased the cost of doing business and industrialists have preferred to shut down their units instead of suffering heavy losses.”
APTPMA Faisalabad Zone Chairman Hafiz Sheikh Muhammad Asghar Qadri said the rampant increase in oil, gas and electricity prices has brought the industrial sector to the brink of total collapse. “The reduction in the number of major industrial units has caused thousands of workers to lose their jobs.”
He said that every government claimed to design and implement pro-industry policies but without any positive results. “Even the PTI government, despite boasting about the revival of the industry, could not do anything concrete to revive the sector. His claims simply turned out to be empty slogans.”
Apart from the textile industry, almost every sector has been hit harder by inflation, interest rates, foreign exchange shortages, fuel and electricity prices and inputs.
“Due to the ill-conceived policies of the respective governments, 50 per cent of the industrial units have closed down, rendering millions of their workers jobless,” said Brick Kilns Owners’ Association President Chaudhary Abdur Razzaq.
“There were 600 brick kilns in Faisalabad district, but now only 300 are functional. The closure of another 300 kilns has put thousands of workers out of work.
President Aslam Meraj Textile Power Looms Association informed that industrial activity has dropped to almost 40 per cent. “Some industrialists have closed their units, while others have minimized production time by cutting shifts almost in half.”
He said 30 to 50 percent of the textile industry has partially shut down and if the government does not take urgent measures to remedy this, the situation may worsen, he apprehended.
Meanwhile, Chaudhary District President Muhammad Arshad Gujjar Labor Wing Jamat-e-Islami feared an increase in illegal activities after thousands of workers became jobless. “When someone or his children are starving, he knows no morality or just way of earning. In such a situation, they feel justified in engaging in activities such as theft, looting, looting or even kidnapping.
According to statistics released by the police department, 12,960 criminals were arrested from Faisalabad in the first seven months of this year, including 1,249 criminals during July 2023.
Although the police claimed to be doing well, statistics showed that crime had increased due to rising unemployment. Therefore, the government and its concerned departments should seriously focus on this issue, otherwise, it will become a volcano of our society.
Commenting on this situation, renowned technocrat Prof Dr. Jalal Arif proposed to develop comprehensive plans to provide the latest skills to our workers aged 19 to 40 as they constitute 60 per cent of the total population.
“This power should be harnessed by imparting various skills to them. If we do not equip the youth with productive skills, they might engage in irrelevant and unproductive activities,” he emphasized.
He said that the global scenario is changing rapidly so we cannot survive among the commonwealth with unskilled and semi-skilled manpower. “Let’s move forward keeping in mind international demands and pressures if we really want to survive.”
The situation is dire and demanding and requires the immediate attention of patriotic Pakistanis. Although they are very few, they too can make a difference if they proceed with courage and commitment.
