CM bats for retention of govt press at Coimbatore

CHENNAI: Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, suggesting merger of the Government of India Presses (GIP) in Karnataka and Kerala with the Coimbatore unit.

Pointing to the recent Cabinet decision to merge the government presses, he said this would mean that the Coimbatore press would be shifted outside the State. Already facing opposition from trade unions, the move will force the workers to shift to far-away places along with their families.

Palaniswami also said that the Coimbatore press had job orders for the next four years and had got good skilled labour along with the land measuring 132.7 acres. Hence, “it would be appropriate to retain the GIP at Coimbatore and merge the Karnataka and Kerala presses with the Coimbatore unit. This would ensure a continued presence of a GIP in South India,” he added.

The Government of India Press, Coimbatore has been functioning under the control of the Directorate of Printing, Ministry of Urban Development.

According to sources, the GIP was set up at Periyanaickenpalayam in 1964. Applications, forms, passbooks and  publications for the Department of Post, answer-sheets for Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), forms for government stores in Mumbai, Air Force forms, and applications for the Railway department are printed at this press.

In 1990-95, several employees retired, but the Centre has not conducted a recruitment to fill the vacancies. When the authorities announced special voluntarily retirement scheme, around 108 employees opted for it. Only 300 employees were working in the unit.