Nashik in midst of a locals v/s migrants grouse

The seeds of animosity towards migrant workers in Nashik seem to have been sown nearly 15 years ago through a complex web of mis-managed liberalisation of the local economy, reports CNBC-TV18’s Kenan Machado and Allister D'souza.

Raj Thackeray's recent tirade against North Indian migrant workers has touched a raw nerve in the industrial town of Nashik.  That's because local Maharashtrians feel that migrant workers undercut them to take their jobs. The trend started when large companies setting up shop in Nashik demanded competitive pricing from suppliers here. So Nashik's small and medium scale companies avoided permanent employees to save on costs.

DL Karad of CITU said, “Initially, they recruited from local population, but since the last 10 years, the contractors and employers have adopted a policy to recruit the contract workers, that too from other states. The reason is they don't demand minimum wages, they work for 16 hours, they work in hazardous conditions and they are not in a position to unionise themselves.”

Abhay Kulkarni, President, AIMA said, “Large scale companies are putting pressure on us for cost cutting. We want better quality, better service, less cost, which in globalisation is natural. But it is difficult to survive.”

Survival is difficult for the 5,000 small and medium scale enterprises here, with labour making up for 22% of their costs. The absence of readily available power and costly land rentals isn't helping either. Experts say the last six years have seen nearly 20% of Nashik's industries shifting base to tax friendly states like Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh.