Nat'l Lok Adalat settles 92 industrial, labour cases in Thane

A record 92 cases were settled by six industrial and labour panels of the National Lok Adalat here, bringing relief to over 1,000 workers.
The cases, pending for several years, amounted to about Rs 7 crore, Assistant Registrar of the Industrial Court, G G Mahavarkar said.
"As many as 191 matters, pending for different durations, were placed before the six panels, of which 92 were settled. Of the 148 labour cases placed, 60 were settled. The balance were industrial disputes," he said.
The oldest case taken up in the National Lok Adalat held yesterday, dated back to 1993 and pertained to the National Rayon Corporation (NRC). Seven cases relating to the NRC were settled, which amounted to about Rs 30 lakh, he said.

Mahavarkar said the settlement formula adopted by the panel for the NRC case will benefit around 2,000 other employees of the corporation, who are awaiting a redressal, adding that the formula was unique and thus accepted readily by the two sides.
The said panel was headed by the Administrative Judge of Labour Court P S Chandgude and comprised Advocate Ajit Puranik and Advocate Ramesh Chavanke as the members, he said.
In one pending industrial case involving a company from Navi Mumbai, the settlement was to the tune of Rs 5,17,63,000, he said, adding it was pending since 2008 and involved 65 employees.

The matters settled yesterday brought relief to over 1,000 industrial workers. It was achieved with the inspiration of the Administrative Judge of the Industrial Court, S K Deshpande, the Registrar added.