The Hindu : KPL employees get a raw deal

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 19, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram

KPL employees get a raw deal

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM June 18. As many as 59 employees of the Keltron Projectors Ltd. (KPL) are being forced to relinquish their claim for rightful compensation while being rendered jobless following the closure of the company.

This public sector company, a subsidiary of the Kerala State Electronics Development Corporation (Keltron), had been in the red for quite a few years. Even the manufacturing process had stopped here and the employees were not being paid their salaries since June, 2001.

On May 4 this year, the management issued a notice for the closure of the company with effect from May 31. Prior to that, the management had succeeded in getting the trade unions representing the employees to sign an agreement accepting virtually nothing as compensation.

The long and short of the story is that each employee of the company will be getting just eight days salary for each completed years of service as compensation. Indemnity at such a low level is perhaps unheard of in the history of public sector in the country.

``You can imagine the plight of the employees who had been deprived of their monthly salaries for a whole year. They were reduced to such a stage that the trade unions were forced to accept any condition set by the management,'' a trade union leader said.

The Government had offered a total package of Rs. 205 lakhs for settling the dues of the employees. This amount is proposed to be utilised for clearing part of the Provident Fund dues (Rs. 72.5 lakhs), ESI dues (Rs. 50,000), dues to ex-employees (Rs. 13 lakhs), bank dues (Rs. 15 lakhs), decreed amounts (Rs. 50,000) and professional tax (Rs. 1.25 lakhs).

A bulk of the balance amount Rs. 102.25 lakhs will go for the payment of gratuity. What remains after settling these dues will be hardly sufficient to offer eight days salary for each completed year of service as compensation to the employees.

At a meeting held on April 29 to discuss the severance package, the management is said to have even insisted that the employees should forgo their claim over unpaid salary since June, 2001. The unions could counter it only by suggesting that the severance package should be reasonable.

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