MEMORANDUM SUBMITTED
to the Honourable Prime Minister, Chairperson, United Progressive
Alliance, Honourable Finance Minister, Honourable Minister
of Labour, Honourable Minister of Food Processing Industry
regarding privatisation of Modern Food Industries (India)
Ltd.
Modern Food Industries Employees Union
Lawrence Road, New Delhi - 110 035
(Regd.-3238) & recognized
Office: B-89 Gulmohar Park, New Delhi 110 049
June 10, 2004
New Delhi
To
Shri Manmohan Singh
Honourable Prime Minister
Government of India
SUBJECT: Request for urgent action on the part of your government
to
(1) Enquire into whether the sale of Modern Food Industries
India Limited to Hindustan Lever Limited on January 31, 2000
was done in a transparent way or not
(2) Enquire into whether the HLL management has actually
invested capital in modernising the machinery and plants or
not
(3) Enquire into whether it is true or not that HLL has thrown
out more than half of the 1650 permanent employees, and all
the temporary and casual employees
(4) Enquire into whether the HLL management is resorting
to contract labour as well as sub contracting bread production
to contractors in different small towns while shutting down
running plants and closing down many units.
(5) Enquire into the role of certain ministers in the NDA
government, notably the ministers of disinvestment Shri Arun
Jaitley and Shri Arun Shourie as to why they gave certificates
of good conduct to the HLL management despite the public outcry
in the press, parliament and on the streets.
(6) Enquire into the role of certain officials of MFIL who
in the period 1997-2000 playd a stellar role in turning a
profit making enterprise into a so-called loss making enterprise
to justify its sale at the lowest price to HLL.
(7) Enquire into why the HLL management has not signed a
new wage agreement with the workmen's union since January
2002 when it was due.
(8) Enquire into the circumstances behind the suspension
and subsequent termination of the main leaders of the Modern
Food Industries Employees Union on September 29, 2000, on
flimsy trumped up charges.
(9) Enquiry into whether the government has the right to
sell MFIL to HLL without having a law in place under which
privatisation can take place.
(10) And finally we demand that your government seriously
address the issue of reversing the privatisation of MFIL as
MFIL management has presumably violated the entire spirit
of the agreement between government of India and HLL. We demand
punishment of the guilty, and compensation to all the workers
for the trauma they have been forced to undergo for no fault
of theirs.
Sir,
We, the workers of MFIL have been waging a long and bitter
struggle for about the past four and half years against the
illegal privatisation of MFIL. We have approached all the
concerned ministers of the Government of India and kept them
informed of the developments on a continuing basis. We have
written many times to the former Prime Minister as well as
to the President of India requesting they address our grievances.
However, in concrete terms, none of our concerns have been
addressed.
The former Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee was forced
to belatedly set up a committee to enquire into the consequences
of privatisation on the workers of Modern Foods and BALCO.
Our union deposed before this committee last year and the
Chairman of this committee, Shri Hasubhai Dave, was forced
to admit that all our complaints were valid and Hindustan
Lever Limited had pursued an unadulterated anti-worker policy.
As far as we know, this report is gathering dust while the
workmen are being tortured and forced to take VRS, suspension,
dismissal or whatever else. Workers were working on contract
in the Delhi Bread Unit-I under the nose of the enquiry committee!
And since the visit of this Committee, many more units have
been closed and plants shut down!
Sir,
We would like to emphasise that our struggle has been long
and arduous, but we have not and will not give up fighting
for justice. Your government has come on the wake of the mass
opposition of workers to the privatisation program as well
as other anti-worker programs of the previous government.
And the biggest example of the anti-working class program
of the previous government was the sale of Modern Food Industries
(India) Limited to a multinational HLL.
MFIL was one of the mini-navratnas. It was established to
ensure quality bread to toilers and to assist in calamities
like war, flood and drought relief, as well as in mid day
meal schemes for poor children. It served in price and quality
control as it was the biggest producer of bread in the national
market as well as leader in bread production in Asia. Why
was it sold? Arun Jaitley, the disinvestment minister in NDA
government who supervised the sale, declared arrogantly that
it is not the "business of government to make bread"!
Presumably your government does not subscribe to this philosophy.
Please reverse the illegal and anti-national sale of MFIL
and undo all the wrongs done to the workers.
We would like to propose that a national referendum be conducted
on privatisation before any further privatisation is carried
out so that workers and people at large are not harassed and
persecuted like we have been.
We have listed above the main demands and concerns of workmen.
Below we will give very brief elaborations on some of these
points. (Appendix 1) For reference, we are also attaching
copies of some of the letters given by our union to the former
Prime Minister (Appendix 2), the President (Appendix 3) as
well as our submission before the Prime Minister's enquiry
committee. (Appendix 4)
Appendix 1:
SALE
The CAG report has pointed out irregularities in the sale
of MFIL to HLL, confirming the allegations made by our union
at the time of the sale. It is alleged that Britannia offered
a better price then HLL, but HLL was given the MFIL. However,
despite outcry in the media and parliament, no action was
taken on the CAG report. On the contrary, the then Government
of India sold the remaining 26% shares to HLL despite our
opposition. At that very time, HLL had applied to BIFR asking
to be declared a SICK unit. And precisely in those days, the
disinvestment minister declared HLL was "performing very
well"! We publicly exposed these matters at that time.
No body listened to us. Why? Today, the government is planning
to hand over ownership rights to HLL which will enable it
to dispose off the over 2000 crores worth of immovable property.
We request that your government put an immediate stop to any
such illegal transaction. Please enquire into the entire background
behind the original sale as well as the subsequent sale.
MODERNISATION
We do not yet know the terms of agreement between the Government
of India and HLL. But from what your government has publicly
pronounced, as well as the report of the disinvestment committees
set up by the United Front Government, you expect MFIL to
have been modernised with infusion of fresh capital and technology.
However, the opposite is true. MFIL had the best bread making
plants in whole of country. HLL management has shut down many
of these plants, has sold and is in process of selling most
of these plants. Production is being carried out through subcontract
as well as hiring contract labour. Far from modernising, what
the management is doing is using bad quality maida and other
materials, destroying existing machinery, and so on. This
alone is enough reason to expropriate HLL and take back Modern
Foods into the public sector.
ATTACKS ON WORKERS
HLL management had announced to a journalist of a reputed
business journal in February 2000 that they would reduce the
workforce to 600, throw out all the rest, and use the brand
name of Modern Foods while shifting production to sweat shops
in outlying small towns where minimum wage rules do not apply
and where it can freely resort to contract labour.
In four and half years, over half the workforce of 1650 permanent
employees have been thrown out in various ways. The entire
casual and temporary labour force has lost their jobs. In
Delhi Bread Unit-I, there were nearly 1000 workmen of all
types before privatisation. Today there are only 160 permanent
workmen and no casual or temporary workers. This is the case
in the flagship unit of MFIL. Of the six bread plants in Delhi,
four have been sold!
The kind of torture workers have to face can not be fathomed.
Leaders of the Employees Union were thrown out of the Delhi
Bread Unit-I in September 2000 and the management openly said
to them we are throwing you out as you are opposing privatisation
and defending the rights of workers. Fighting workers have
been continuously and systematically persecuted through charge
sheets, warnings, memos, transfer orders. Casual workers were
denied work for over a year while contract workers were employed,
despite our public protest and a continuing dharna at the
gate since 28-4-2002.
Many units have been closed down or are in process of closing
down - Fruit Juice Bottling Plant (Rasika) Delhi Bread Unit-II,
Roller Flour Mill, Faridabad, Ranchi, Jaipur, Chandigarh,
Kanpur, Bhagalpur, Silchar, Ahmedabad-etc.
The management is now resorting to practice of transferring
workers to a unit which is about to close down, then close
down that unit, throwing out the transferred workers! Example
workers transferred from Delhi Bread Unit-I to Rasika and
Faridabad Roller Mill, both of whom were closed down soon
after.
We would very much appreciate if you will give us time so
that we can clarify various issues we have raised. We request
you to take urgent action on the issues raised, so that the
wrongs are undone immediately. Justice delayed is justice
denied.
With sincere regards,
(Govind Singh Yadav)
Secretary,
CC: For necessary action
Shrimati Sonia Gandhi
Chairperson, United Progressive Alliance
Shri P. Chidambaram
Honourable Finance Minister
Government of India
Shri Sis Ram Ola
Honourable Minister of Labour
Government of India
Shri Subodh Kant Sahay
Honourable Minister of Food Processing Industry
Government of India
|
