2.5 lakh UP labourers to be absorbed across various realty projects in state: NAREDCO

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by NAREDCO-UP in the presence of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. There are 250 developer members in the state chapter of the body.

Besides an agreement with the National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO), the state government has also signed MoUs with other industry bodies like the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Indian Industries Association (IIA) and Laghu Udyog Bharati for another 8.5 lakh job opportunities.

The construction work on real estate projects across the country came to a grinding halt after the imposition of the nationwide lockdown from March 25 to control the coronavirus spread. Giving some relaxations later, the government allowed construction activities with existing labourers on the project sites.

"We have signed an MoU with the UP government for providing employment opportunities to 2.5 lakh labourers of UP who have returned from different states because of coronavirus," NAREDCO-UP President R K Arora told reporters in a video conference.

Around 1.25 lakh workers will be absorbed at Ghaziabad, Noida and Greater Noida in the national capital region, while the remaining 1.25 lakh will be taken for projects across other cities in UP.

The association will also provide training to labourers to undertake construction works, he said.

Arora expected that implementation of this MoU is expected to start within 15-20 days.

"This MoU is a win-win situation for labourers from UP, state government developers and also homebuyers. Labourers will be absorbed and construction work will start," he said.

Sanjeev Srivastava, managing director of Assotech group and member of NAREDCO-UP, said most of the labourers have returned to their native places and therefore construction works could not be started at the desired pace.

The builders will ensure that labourers from UP get absorbed by making necessary changes in their contracts with construction companies, he said.

The Uttar Pradesh government has signed initial agreements with various industry bodies to help in providing 11 lakh jobs to migrant labourers who have returned to the state in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

FICCI and IIA accounted for three lakh jobs each, while NARDECO and Laghu Udyog Bharati accounted for 2.5 lakh jobs each, UP MSME minister Sidharth Nath Singh said.

Most of the real estate developers outsource their construction works to third-party contractors like L&T, HCC, Shapoorji & Pallonji, Tata Projects, Ahluwalia Contracts and BL Kashyap.

Arora said the association will get data of labourers from the state government, after which it will run an awareness campaign to attract labourers on their sites.

He said around 30 lakh workers are estimated to have returned to UP from various states during this coronavirus pandemic.

Asked about the fate of labourers belonging to Bihar who come to Delhi-NCR looking for works on construction sites, Arora said there is a lot of potential in UP real estate market, especially Noida and Greater Noida, to absorb labourers from other states as well.

Srivastava assured that there would be no bar for workers from other states.

NAREDCO-National has around 5,000 members across the country. Realtors'' apex body CREDAI has around 20,000 members.