Brick kilns, which employ thousands in Punjab, stare at closure
Ludhiana: The brick kilns in the state, which employ thousands, are on the verge of closure. And who is to blame? Brick kiln owners allege that the "wrong policies" of the state and the Centre have led to a sharp decline in the number of kilns.
Harmesh Mohi, president, Punjab Brick Kiln Owners' Association, says, "Adverse govt policies such as the hike in GST on bricks, which was increased from 1% to 5% and then to 12%, have hurt the sector. As it is, brick kiln owners were struggling to make both ends meet, and the high GST was like the last nail in their coffin."
The number of brick kilns has reportedly come down from roughly about 2600 in 2021-22 to a little more than half, 1500, now.
GST apart, the tightening of pollution norms in Punjab, is also believed to have led to a drastic dip in the purchase of bricks from the state. In 2018-19, brick kiln owners of Punjab shifted to cleaner technology, rebuilt the kilns as per the green norms, which incurred a lot of expenditure and also added to the production cost, which had a bearing on the prices of bricks.
Mohi said, "Since there are no such conditions in the neighbouring states of Haryana and Rajasthan, there is a high demand for the bricks from Rajasthan as they are comparatively cheaper."
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Lakhbir Singh Sandhu, general secretary of the association, also pointed out that govt norms for environment clearances for even small amounts of sand mining from fields has affected the brick kiln production units. "The govt must allow at least 3 ft sand mining on agricultural land," he added.
If the situation persists, the day is not far when brick kilns will be forced to shut shop, robbing thousands of workers of their only source of livelihood.
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