Despite the Government assuring that the interests of workers will not be harmed, the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) employees began their one-month-long strike in response to the call given by three recognised Defence Federations. The workers are protesting against the move to corporatise the factories manufacturing weapons and ammunition for the armed forces and are the oldest manufacturing units in the country. There are nearly one lakh workers in OFB.
Workers employed in factories in Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal began their protest on Tuesday followed by more workers joining the stir on Wednesday even as the government emphasised the proposed corporatisation is aimed at providing greater flexibility in day-to-day functioning, increased operational freedom and autonomy in decision making, leading to enhanced productivity. This will enable the Ordnance Factories to respond faster to the futuristic needs of the Armed Forces and provide an impetus to the export potential of its products.
Reports from Bhopal said around 22,000 civilian workers from six ordnance factories in Madhya Pradesh have joined the month-long nationwide strike demanding immediate withdrawal of the government’s plans to ‘corporatise’ the OFB, a union leader said on Wednesday. The ordnance factories in Madhya Pradesh are located in Jabalpur, Katni and Itarsi.
All India Defence Employees Federation (AIDEF) Additional General Secretary B. Guha Thakurta told PTI from Jabalpur that around 82,000 workers from 41 Ordnance Factories (OFs) across the country have struck work since Tuesday.
The Ministry of Defence had earlier clarified that it had no plan to privatise the ordnance factories. Three federations of workers which have called the strike had claimed that ‘corporatisation’ of the Kolkata-headquartered organisation will eventually lead to its privatisation.
Chairman of OFB Saurabh Kumar had said in Kolkata that the proposed ‘corporatisation’ move by the Centre was aimed at providing greater flexibility in day-to-day functioning and increasing autonomy in decision-making.
A committee of senior officials of the defence ministry, led by additional secretary of the Department of Defence Production, along with the OFB chairman, had met the office-bearers of the federations on August 14 and August 16 to discuss the matter.
A joint press statement issued by the three recognised employees’ federations claimed that talks with the ministry to resolve the matter have failed to reach a solution. “The strike commenced at 6 am on Tuesday. It is set to continue for one month, till September 20, if a solution is not reached before that.
The federations urge the Centre to reconsider its decision to corporatise the ordnance factories and withdraw the same in the interest of the defence preparedness of our country and also the service life of 82,000 employees,” the statement said.
Several committees, over the past two decades, have recommended the conversion of ordnance factories into a public sector company, it claimed. “But the ordnance factories being war reserve and solely dependent on the armed forces cannot function as a commercially viable PSU,” the statement added.