11 Noida builders ready to employ one lakh workers by July, outreach begins

NOIDA: Eleven builders from Noida have come forward with a demand for at least 1 lakh

workers

to kick-start construction of housing projects in Noida and

Greater Noida

. More than 1 lakh flats are due in both cities.


The government has provided a list of 2.84 lakh workers who can be recruited for the purpose, said officials in the

National Real Estate Development Council

(Naredco), an association of realtors. The 11 builders have demanded that these workers undergo

Covid tests

before they are inducted, but the administration has said it is yet to receive any order from the government in this regard.

“We do not have any directive so far for medical screening. So, if the builders are demanding medical certificates before they recruit workers, it is something they are doing at their own level,” district industries officer Anil Kumar said. Naredco said it would recruit workers from within a 100km radius of a construction site.

The builders that have raised the demand for 1 lakh workers are Supertech, Ajnara, Panchsheel, Migsun, Antriksh, Earthcon, ACE, Purvanchal, Logix, Sunshine, Indus Valley.

As part of outreach, calls are being made to migrants who have returned to their hometowns to persuade them to join work. According to official records, there are 50,000 labourers still available in Noida. Sources said infrastructure projects in the district need at least 5 lakh workers so that construction can be completed.

Although the builders hope to recruit these 1 lakh workers by July, persuading them to return would be easier said than done. Moreover, a number of these workers need to be trained in construction activity before they can be inducted. Builders have other constraints, too. Ensuring the supply chain of materials and availability of funds are still major challenges that need to be resolved before construction can actually begin.

“The industry is facing major issues like lack of cash flow. The supply chain, too, has been disrupted,” said Pankaj Bajaj, the president of Credai-NCR.

But efforts to reach out to labourers are in full swing. “We have created a committee of 10 persons to contact workers and coordinate with real estate projects for their placement after they are medically certified. The workers are being reached over phone calls or text messages and advertisements. If there is a need, workers returning to the district would be trained under the UP skill development mission,” Naredco UP president RK Arora said.

On May 29, the UP government had signed two agreements for employing workers. The first one was signed with Indian Industries Association (IIA), which promised to engage 5 lakh workers across the state — 3 lakh in Noida alone. The second agreement was signed with Naredco for employing 2.5 lakh workers.

(With inputs from Neha Lalchandani in Lucknow)

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