No Takers For Jk Synth Kota, Jhalawar Units

JK Synthetics has not been able to find a buyer for its acrylic and tyre cord (ATC) group plants located in Kota and Jhalawar. And no buyers are to be found for the polyester filament yarn and polyester staple fibre units either, which belong to the PSG group managed by the Govind Hari Singhania faction of the family.

The only plants which may get some buyers are those from the cement group managed by Gaur Hari Singhania faction of the family. But the sale of any of these cement group units will mean that the rest of the company will be rendered unmanageable because these are the only ones making profits and if they do not remain within the company, there will not be any surplus which can fund the rest of the operations.

 

"In that case it will be better to close the company itself," said a senior company executive.

The cement group is the only section which is being able to pay the salary of its staff. Both the other groups have not paid wages for many months.

A recent meeting of the board of directors of the company here led to strong rumours that the Ramapati Singhania faction has sold machinery and assets worth Rs 50 crore from the Kota and Jhalawar units. Queries to company officials in this regard only elicited a denial The district authorities of both Kota and Jhalawar, too, denied that such a thing had happened.

But the non-payment of wages to the workers in Kota and Jhalawar has created crises in those cities leading to action by the district administrations there. In both the places, the district magistrates, apprehending the imposition of lock-out by the management of JK Synthetics, took advance action under Section 10(K) of the Industrial Disputes Act, which gives the government the right to disallow a lock out.

The district magistrates of Kota and Jhalawar, S S Tripathi and Pratihaar, respectively, said the management was keen to impose a lock-out. "However, we got wind of it and issued instructions under Section 10(K) and the result is that the workers have not been deprived of their dues. The closure or lock out in three factories is illegal. The meter of the workers salaries is on," they said. In Jhalawar, the wages have not been paid for the last one year.

"There were some attempts by the Ramapati Singhania faction to sell some of the assets but these have been stopped and the company's managers have been told to refrain from indulging in such practices," they said. Police has been deputed to keep a watch on the factory.

In Kota, the situation is much worse. The district administration has declared auction proceedings against the assets of the company. The management, however, has obtained stay against this from the high court. "But the stay will expire on the November 4 and we will move in on November 5," Tripathi said. There are five more cases of criminal nature which have been filed against the company. These include raps over land grabbing and refusal to deposit the employer's contribution to the provident fund.