Over 5 mn mandays lost due to strikes last year: Report

NEW DELHI: Over five million mandays were lost last year due to strikes and lockouts in the country, while 61 units closed down affecting around 2200 workers, an official report has said.

In its latest report, the Labour Bureau said Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Kerala figured high on the list of states where mandays were lost due to unrest in industrial units and other manufacturing centres.

However, it said despite the recession, the number of workers losing jobs was less than the previous year. While 3052 workers lost jobs in 2008, the figure came down to 2010 in year 2009. Also, 61 units were closed down last year.

Andhra Pradesh was at the top of the pecking order with more than 22 lakh mandays lost, followed by West Bengal and Himachal Pradesh with over ten lakh and five lakh mandays lost respectively, the report said.

Incidentally, the loss of mandays last year was far less than the previous year, it noted.

Some of the states which witnessed large retrenchment were Orissa (1354), Himachal Pradesh (665) and Haryana (95).

A Labour ministry official said figures of some of the big states including Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh were not available.

Earlier, the Labour Bureau in its quarterly survey on employment covering the period of October to December, had said employment has risen by 6.38 lakh over the July-September quarter, an apparent reflection of the gradual turnaround of the economy.