OF corporatisation plan forces unions to go on strike

Nagpur: At a time when tensions have escalated along the line of actual control (LAC) with China, the unions of the ordnance factories are bracing for an indefinite strike.
The strike was given after the government once again came up with a proposal to corporatize the ordnance factory board (OFB). The move is a part of Atmanirbhar Bharat programme to revive the economy post Covid.
The lockdown has already taken a major toll on supply of defence items from the ordnance factories.
The unions have jointly moved a strike ballot from June 8 to 17. If 75% of the employees vote in favour, the three unions, including the RSS-leaning Bharatiya Pratiraksha Mazdoor Sangh (BPMS), plan to go on an indefinite strike. Last year, the unions had held a month-long strike in August when the corporatisation was first mooted. After that, a high level official committee (HLOC) was set up. The unions were assured that any step on corporatisation will be taken after hearing their say.
Mukesh Tiwari, general secretary of BMPS, said the plan to corporatize the OFB at a time when the country is grappling with the pandemic comes as a betrayal from the government.
The HLOC will be holding a video conference on this matter on Thursday. The unions have refused to take part in it. “We have conveyed that the unions would only prefer a face-to-face meeting which may be held on June 26, “ said Tiwari.
Sources in the ordnance factory management said during the three months of lockdown the supply of defence items had come down to nearly 5% of the normal proportion. A number of factories have only restarted on June 1 while some had begun a month ago. A major gap still remains.
There is a concern over supplies of ammunition of all calibres ranging from small arms to artillery to the Army. The ammunition is made in ordnance factories at Kirkee (Pune), Chandrapur, Warangaon, Khamaria.
Sources said supplies to Army are yet to begin in most of the factories. A source at Khamaria, where a wide range of large calibre ammunition is made, said the factory had started only on Monday. Till then, it was engaged in making sanitisers as part of Covid prevention mandate. In Chandrapur, a source said the production has been not much in last one month. There were similar confirmations from other factories too.
Even as the factories may have begun, the entire supply chain, which includes private sector, has also been affected due to the lockdown, said a source. Apart from in-house production factories also depend on more than 4000 ancillary units that have not started fully as the industry is grappling with labour shortage.