Eturunagaram (Warangal): After a year of despair, festive mood was witnessed at Kamalapuram village in the district on Thursday as the ...
Eturunagaram (Warangal): After a year of despair, festive mood was witnessed at Kamalapuram village in the district on Thursday as the workers of Ballarpur Industries Limited (BILT) celebrated over the state government’s initiative to reopen the BILT factory. A meeting was held near the factory where Workers Joint Action Committee leaders P Venkat Reddy, Ch Chokka Rao, Sk Qurban Ali and others have thanked Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao for holding talks with BILT representatives on Wednesday in the state capital.
They also thanked the local ministers and legislators for taking the issue to the notice of the CM and distributed sweets among themselves and their family members, who underwent untold misery following temporary shutdown of the factory on April 3, 2014. After temporary shutdown of its operations at the unit on account of adverse global and Indian market conditions in the market of rayon grade pulp, the company management informed its decision to Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in May, 2014.
Following which the workers under the banner of BILT Workers Joint Action Committee have started agitations seeking to restart the production. Later, the management of the BILT, established in 1977 and owned by Avantha Group, India's leading business conglomerate, approached the state government seeking to permit them to permanently close the factory by January 21, 2015. Despite the government’s denial to the proposal, it was not reopened compelling the workers to go on an indefinite relay hunger strike as the leaders of the JAC met the leaders of the ruling and Opposition parties to support their cause.
The company that produces rayon grade and paper grade wood pulp was the only major industry in Warangal that used to provide direct employment to about 2000 and indirect employment to 10, 000 personnel prior to the crisis. The JAC leaders speaking to the press have asked the state government to ensure that the wages of the workers pending since several months should be cleared immediately.
