Clear stance on future: Workers' unions to HEC

RANCHI: Six different workers' union of Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC) staged a dharna in front of the HEC headquarters in Hatia on Wednesday and asked the government to clarify the exact position of the corporation. The protest was organised under the aegis of registered and recognised union - Hatia Project Workers Union (HPWU) which criticised the rumours of a disinvestment at HEC.
HPWU president Rana Sangram Singh said, "The HEC management is unaware of the disinvestment proposal, if any, but Ranchi MP Ram Tahal Choudhary has issued statements that the corporation is going to be disinvested. This has discouraged thousands of employees labouring hard to bring out the corporation from its losses." He added, "If there is no official word about the future of HEC, then the workers and employees will not be able to meet production targets, eventually resulting in losses."
The protest was joined by five other trade unions - Hatia Kaamgar Unioin, Hatia Mazdoor Union, HEC Shramik Sangathan, Janta Mazdoor Union and Hatia Lok Manch. The meeting was also attended by some of the officials and private labourers who resolved to meet the production target without falling into the trap of rumours.
"We are going to consider it as a rumour unless the HEC management informs us otherwise officially," Singh said, while appealing to the workers to meet the annual production target by the end of the current financial year.
The other union leaders have also approached their counterparts in Delhi to gather information from the department of heavy industries regarding the matter. The displaced people of 32 villages, who have been agitating from time to time for a compensation, have also decided to raise their voices in case the situation was not clarified.