Allow HMT Machine to revise salary, raise retirement age: JD(S) chief to Centre

Former prime minister and JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda Thursday asked the Centre to allow HMT Machine Tools to revise salaries of its employees and raise the retirement age at par with HMT International.

Gowda discussed these issues with Heavy Industries Minister Anant Geete.

Both HMT Machine Tools and HMT International are subsidiaries of the holding company HMT Ltd.

In a representation made to the central government, Gowda said employees of HMT Machine are drawing salaries at the 2007 scale and a revision is necessary to end the discrimination between employees of two subsidiaries of the same holding company.

"The management is ready to implement the 2007 wage revision without expecting any financial assistance from the government. But they need permission from the Government of India," Gowda said.

He also urged the government to permit the company to enhance the retirement age from 58 to 60 years at par with HMT International and HMT Ltd.

The JD(S) chief also emphasised the need to merge the two subsidiaries with the holding firm and ensure payment of terminal benefits to retired staff.

These issues are pending for a long time and they need to be resolved at the earliest in the interest of the HMT Machine and its employees, he added.