Pressure On Govt To Restart Kanpur Textile Mills

Kanpur observed a bandh on Tuesday to press for resumption of production in the citys textile mills and payment of wages to workers in the five National Textiles Corp mills.

The textile mill workers are also demanding regularisation of contract workers in Elgin Mills.

Most of these mills have been lying idle for over three years and wages have not been paid for three months.

The unprecedented bandh was total. It was supported by traders organisations, students, political parties and others, besides the textile workers.

The nine textile mills in the city stopped work gradually, after their attempt in 1989 to rationalise the work force was foiled by stiff resistance from workers.

 

This had led to rejection of the K K Pandey award, envisaging retrenchment of over 8,000 workers out of an estimated work force of over 30,000.

J K Cotton went in for a lock-out on May 15, 1989, which is yet to be lifted. The five NTC mills came to a complete halt in 1992. Since then, the workers, staff and officers were being paid idle wages.

The textile mills of Elgin Mills stopped production last year. Only the Cawnpore Textile mill is still producing, but at only 40 per cent of its capacity.

When the voluntary retirement scheme was introduced, a majority of the workers in NTC and Elgin mills availed of it. This prompted the government to draw up plans to revive and modernise the mills.

But later when the opposition to the scheme mounted, the textile ministry said that it would not be viable to operate the mills with the existing work force, which was too big. The government decided not to spend money on the voluntary retirement scheme and scrapped it. The revival and modernisation plans were shelved. Many workers of the Cawnpore Textile mill were suspended for taking part in the agitation and some of them have been under suspension for over a year.

Elgin Mills tried to eject 140 contract workers, but the workers opposed it and are still fighting to save their jobs. They are also demanding recognition as regular mill workers.

The wage payment to NTC workers was first delayed and then stopped. The wages have not been paid since Diwali last year.

Sources say NTC was allocated Rs 253 crore in the last budget, of which Rs 35 crore was allocated to its Uttar Pradesh branch. There are 11 mills under it, of which four continue to produce. Two of these are able to pay salaries and two others are able to meet the salary requirements up to 60 per cent.

The total wage bill of the UP branch of NTC is Rs 4.8 crore a month. The budget allocation would have been sufficient. But, sources say, some money was diverted at the time of last years Lok Sabha elections to reopen some of the mills in South India, including one in Nandyal, former Prime Minister Narasimha Raos constituency.

The NTC workers started a dharna outside the residence of the corporation chairman 10 days ago which is still continuing. The Union government has, however, not budged from its stand.

However, resumption of production by the textile mills is now being seen as the only way out of the impasse.