JMM workers’ strike forces HURL to halt production for second day

Dhanbad: Production in the newly set up urea plant of Hindustan Urvarak and Rasayan Ltd (HURL) at Sindri remained disrupted for the second day on Tuesday owing to the ongoing agitation by JMM in support of their six-point charter of demands.
JMM activists are sitting on a dharna for the last 21 days in front of the factory gate and on Monday when the workers blocked all the entry and exit points, the HURL management decided to close the ammonia plant for safety reasons.
The demands include ensuring 75% employment to locals, awarding road transport contract to tribal cooperative society, minimum wages to contract labourers, re-employment to workers removed from project work, permanent employment to one Rakesh Kumar who got injured earlier in a plant accident and reservation in employment according to the notification of the state government.
Commercial production of neem-coated urea started in HURL Sindri plant on November 7. However, production had to be stopped on November 11 owing to some technical snag but ammonia production continued.
On Monday when the JMM workers led by district president Ramesh Tudu blocked all the gates of the factory, the HURL management decided to suspend production activities till situation normalises.
HURL senior vice-president Dipten Roy said, “We are unable to understand the reason behind the agitation as nearly 76% contract workers working in the plant are from different parts of Jharkhand out of which nearly 62% are residents of different parts of Dhanbad district. We have provided a number of jobs.”
“When the JMM activists blocked all the gates, we informed the secretary of the ministry of fertilizer as well as the district administration about the situation and closed the ammonia plant for safety reasons. Meanwhile, we have taken up some repair-maintenance work and production will start only when the situation normalises,” he added.
JMM district president Ramesh Tudu said they urged the HURL management to provide a list of local employees working in the plant. “The management will have to give first preference to the locals of Sindri displaced by the fertilizer plant earlier,” he said, adding that providing jobs to people from other parts of Jharkhand ignoring the claim of locals will not be accepted.
“The dharna will continue for 10 days and by then if the management fails to fulfill our demands, we will intensify our agitation,” he added. The district administration has promulgated prohibitory orders under section 144 of crPC in the area.