The Hindu : Probe sought into sale of factory land

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 18, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka

Probe sought into sale of factory land

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE JUNE 17. The president of the State unit of the Janata Dal (United), C. Byre Gowda, and the secretary general of the State unit of the Janata Dal (Secular), C. Narayanaswamy, have demanded an inquiry into the alleged sale of land owned by the Government-run NGEF.

They told presspersons here on Monday that the Managing Director of the NGEF, without the Government's approval, was trying to compel the factory's employees to opt for voluntary retirement scheme or face retrenchment. ``The Managing Director is on the verge of superannuation and is consequently eager to sell the factory's land. Some of the employees who raised objections or have gone to court on various matters have been suspended on flimsy grounds,'' they said.

They said that the NGEF till a month ago had orders worth about Rs.130 crore, but those who had placed the orders were apparently compelled to withdraw as the Managing Director had "other plans.'' One of the orders worth about Rs.80 crore was placed by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India, as the NGEF was the only company that manufactured motors required by it.

``The NGEF, which had obtained an advance of Rs.25 crore from the Government agency, reportedly parted with 25 acres of land. The corporation has now sold this land for Rs.75 crore,'' they alleged. Mr. Narayanaswamy said the NGEF had been facing problems for several years. What was unfortunate was that a company with good orders was forcibly being shut down by vested interests. The Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited had placed orders worth Rs.40 crore and it was also ``compelled'' to withdraw its order.

The Chief Minister, S.M. Krishna, should intervene in the matter and order action against the guilty.

He said if the Government was not able to run the NGEF, it should hand over the unit to the Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited. A Cabinet subcommittee, which suggested this, had even said that the employees of the factory could be absorbed in other Government departments. Originally, there were 6,000 employees and this had now been reduced to about 3,000 following the implementation of a voluntary retirement scheme.

The NGEF recently introduced yet another voluntary retirement scheme and it was stated that there was hardly any response to it. The matter was pending before the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction, which would hear it in August.

Complaint to EC

Referring to the Legislative Council election from the two graduates' and two teachers' constituencies scheduled for Sunday, Mr. Gowda said the ruling party was misusing the official machinery.

It had even deployed block education officers to motivate the teachers and the graduates to vote in its favour.

A complaint had been made to the Election Commission and the State Chief Electoral Officer seeking immediate intervention to stop the misuse of official machinery. ``We have even sent the necessary evidence. Unless such activities are stopped, the election will turn out to be a farce.''

The Janata Dal (S) and the Janata Dal (U) have fielded common candidates in three constituencies. They are Puttanna for the Bangalore Teachers' Constituency, H.S. Shivashankar for the South-East Graduates' Constituency, and S.K. Kanta for the North-East Teachers' Constituency.

The two parties have decided to support Hemachandra Yeledahalli, an independent, for the West Graduates' Constituency.

Mr. Gowda urged the Government to pay the salaries of teachers.

Despite the schools reopening in the last week of May, the teachers were yet to receive their salaries. ``It is apparent that the financial position of the Government is bad,'' he said.

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