Protests and agitation by the workers of Tayo Rolls ltd in Gamharia in the adjoining Seraikela-Kharsawan district marred the annual general meeting (AGM) held at the Centre for Excellence on Tuesday.
Over 100 workers of the sick unit staged a protest near Centre for Excellence and raised slogans against the company. The Tayo Rolls ltd, which is a sister concern of the steel major Tata Steel, has shut down its production.
Under the banner of Tayo Shangharsh Samity, the workers raised slogans as the security guards posted at the Centre for Excellence tried to move the protesters away from the venue.
The Jubilee Park gates also remained closed from the morning till 1 pm, until the AGM was not over. The AGM was held under tight security.
Managing Director, Tayo Rolls ltd, J Shankar Marar had arrived at the Centre for Excellence a few minutes after the AGM had started. The protesting workers said they want resumption of production at Tayo and payment of pending salaries of those workers who are still on the pay-roll.
“We are here to air our concerns. We demand the company must resume production at the Tayo Rolls ltd. Moreover, when the State Government and also the Union Government are attracting investors, it is surprising that a decades old unit which used to manufacture rolls be closed," said one of the protesters.
He said that they also demanded for the salaries to 283 employees whom the company has not paid since the past 11 months.
The Tayo Rolls ltd has stopped production since August 2016 as the company was incurring huge loss since the past five years. The company had offered VRS and VSS for its about 800 staff, 400 of them were in the officers category. While over 550, including officers opted for the schemes, 283 workers preferred to remain on the company.
The 283 workers who did not opt for the VRS or VSS use to go to the company regularly and punch their duty card as usual.
Tayo Rolls limited (formerly Tata-Yodogawa limited) is a metal fabrication and processing company headquartered in Jamshedpur and a subsidiary of Tata Steel. Tayo Rolls' products are primarily cast rolls, forged rolls, special castings and pig iron. It was promoted in 1968 in collaboration with Yodogawa Steel Works of Japan. It is the only company in the world to manufacture both cast and forged rolls right from iron ore with its integrated facilities under one roof.
But after 2008, the company continued to incur heavy loss every year and finally the Board of Directors in February decided to refer the company to Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR).