Work Likely To Resume Today At Buckingham Mills
The Buckingham and Carnatic Mills here, which had ground to a halt Friday last week after authorities snapped its electricity connection for default in payment of dues, is likely to resume work today. But, the continued lack of working capital threatens to put it out of action again.
The management of Binny Ltd, which runs the unit, and the state labour minister A Rehman Khan reached an understanding to reusme power supply to the mills for operations till June end, before which the financial crunch was expected to be resolved.
The company, which owes about Rs one crore to the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB), would now draw power against the supply made by the 22-mw windwill owned by the Binny group, to the state grid.
Workers, on their part, agreed to wait for their April wages till June 9, on the condition that the management make available to them household provisions on salary credit, union sources said.
The Supreme Court would decide on June 9, whether or not to allow release of locked-up deposits of the company in the Indian bank, for payment of wages to workers.
The bank had filed a special leave petition in the apex court, which passed an interim stay against release of Rs five crore that accrued to the company as insurance compensation against damage to the units machinery during last years floods.
Meanwhile, the Madras labour union and the Buckimham and Carnatic mills staff union have decided to go ahead with their proposed road roko programme demanding wages on the grounds that the Binny management was yet to concede their demand for supply of provisions on salary credit.
However, union sources said that without injection of Rs 25 crore as working capital, the wages problem and other short-term issues could not be resolved.
The composite textile unit of Buckingham and Carnatic Millswas closed down in June 1996, after persistent rains flooded the campus and spoiled machinery, and was reopened only in March this year after government intervention.
However, Indian bank, the lead bank in a consortium of institutional lenders to the company, refused to lend working capital funds to the company, on the grounds that the proposition was unviable.
The management maintained that the century-old mill would not be viable unless the old machinery were replaced by newer, more modern ones, already bought by it.
Binny also wanted to relieve all but 700 of the 4,500 workers, saying redundancy of labour was a prime reason for unviability, but had faced stiff opposition from workers for its proposals.
The workers have agreed to wait for their April wages till June 9 on condition that household provisions be available on salary credit. The Supreme Court would decide on June 9, whether or not to allow release of locked-up deposits of the company in the Indian bank, for payment of wages to workers.