 EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, May 8: The Friday incident in a textile mill in industrial area Kathua, wherein workers had staged noisy protest demonstration demanding their full wages, has raised finger over the claims of alleged shutdown of the industrial units during the lock-down.
As per the visuals of the protesting workers, shared on social media sites as well as web portals, the protesting workers can be seen claiming that the textile mill had been operational for the last many days and the management was taking over 12 hours work from the workers.
Though the workers had been demanding full wages from the administration, which had disbursed only half of amount into their accounts, but as per the claims of the workers, if the textile mill had been working during the lockdown, then the onus lies on the district administration for their failure to jeopardize the health of hundreds of workers.
“The textile mill is encircled by huge four walls, making it impossible for the outsiders to have a look of inside functioning, while the gates are manned by the security guards of the textile mill.
There are reports that during the forty days lockdown, the textile mill had been operational”, locals alleged, adding that if the industry was not operational then the workers would not have been claiming of working 12 hours and demanding full wages.
The workers had also leveled serious allegations against the industry management for not allowing them to return back to their native villages. “Most of the workers in the mill hail from various other states and during the lockdown, the workers have been making requests before the district administration for giving them permission to return back to their home districts but their applications were not entertained by the administration allegedly on the instructions of the management”, the workers have alleged.
At one hand the management was taking work from the workers and was confident that if the workers would return back to their homes, the management would face hurdles to make production in the industry, so they tried their best to make workers stay in Kathua.
“The allegations of the workers should be taken seriously by the administration and initiate an enquiry as how during the lockdown an industry could be operational, which jeopardize the lives of thousands of workers as physical distancing is not possible in the factory settings”, a local of the area said, adding that in coming days the same mill owner would claim for packages from the government for the lockdown period, which would be actually false in real sense.
Action must be taken against the mill owners for violations as per Disaster Management Act, an official said. |
