BJP fears layoffs in Delhi

New Delhi, Oct 22 (IANS) The Indian capital may have to pay a heavy price for the global meltdown as 90 percent of the people working here are employed in the services sector and would be affected by any lay-offs, fears Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Harshvardhan.

'Since the Manmohan Singh government has totally downplayed the importance of the domestic sector and indexed India's economic growth to globalisation, we fear that a large number of small, medium, and large companies based in the capital would be hit hard as their clients abroad are downing shutters,' Harshvardhan told reporters Wednesday.

'Exporters of garments, value-added jewellery and other products based in Delhi and NCR (national capital region) are already feeling the pinch because new orders are becoming scarce. Thousands of people employed there are facing a dim future,' he added.

'Delhi's garment exporters, who supply to world famous brand owners like Christian Dior, Gap and Lacoste employ thousand of people. If these fall on hard times, Delhi cannot avoid the social and economic impact,' he said.

He further said that the recent Jet Airways episode where 1,900 employees were sacked - though taken back the very next day - is just a preview of things to come.

He asked the government to immediately promulgate an ordinance banning companies from laying off employees.

'No company, big or small, should be allowed to take arbitrary steps because once lay-off begins in one sector, it invariably causes a cascading effect ultimately hurting the wider economy,' he said.

Harshvardhan said, if voted to power, BJP will come out with a strategy to generate jobs.