Ranchi: HEC officials, workers on indefinite strike over non-payment of salaries

Ranchi, Jan 17 (IANS) At least 3,000 employees of the Ranchi-based Heavy Engineering Corporation on Wednesday went on an indefinite strike over non-payment of their salaries for almost two years.The strike has affected the work in all the three plants while the head office has been locked. The employees, including officials and workers, have not received their salaries for the last 20-22 months. Presiding over the meeting of the “HEC Bachao Mazdoor Jan Sangharsh Samiti” floated by the seven workers’ union, Manoj Pathak said “the work would not resume till the salaries are paid”.He said the striking employees would be provided food near the head office, and nobody would be allowed to enter the plant or the head office.The company, which started with about 22,000 employees, now has only 3,400 employees and officers left and they too have “no work except registering their attendance in the plant”.Workers usually protest in front of the plant demanding payment of their outstanding salaries, but there is no one here to listen to them. There has not even been a full-time CMD (Chairman and Managing Director) in the company for more than two years. Nalin Singhal, CMD of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) is the CMD in-charge here, who visits here “occasionally in two-three months”.The HEC is a Public Sector Undertaking under the Ministry of Heavy Industries located in Ranchi’s Dhurwa area.It has been learnt that the HEC has been facing a financial crisis for the last two-three years. According to sources, the HEC has requested the Ministry of Heavy Industries several times to provide working capital of Rs 1,000 crore.The Ministry, however, has apparently submitted that the Centre cannot extend any help. –IANSsnc/pgh