Coinciding with the closure of the Tata Motors Nano plant at Singur, Hindustan Motors (HM) had started to reduce its employee strength at its Hind Motor (Uttarpara) plant, 15km from Kolkata.

HM has offered the voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) to all factory employees above 53 years of age but all others were also free to accept the scheme.

"If workers and officials are willing to accept a package, we will not intervene. In case the package is not acceptable to majority of employees or they are terminated unilaterally, we will back the employees", Ghosh said.

He pointed out that the package contained a clause that asked the employees to bear the bank interest on the sum HM would raise as loan in case they wanted to take a one-shot payment.

"This is a bit ambiguous as we have not come across any other instance of a VRS being linked to bank interest", Ghosh added.

Other options included payment in installments and monthly payment options. He could not give more details on the package.

Workers not willing to be indentified alleged here today that the employees' union backed by CITU was not very keen to take up their case. The decision came as a shock to the employees on the eve of the Durga Puja, the annual festive season of the region.

Reports from the plant indicated that around 1000 people could lose their jobs.

Workers also alleged that the compensation offered was not satisfactory. When contacted, Moloy Chowdhury, executive vice president of HM, refused to comment on the issue. HM had offered VRS to employees earlier as well. "As the company is not doing very well financially, it is looking at reducing employee strength", Kali Ghosh alleged.

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