Workers of an ordnance factory stitch personal protective equipment in Chennai
By Ajai Shukla
Business Standard, 27th July 21
The 76,000 civilian defence employees of the 41 Ordnance Factories (OFs) under the Ministry of Defence (MoD), who had threatened an indefinite strike from Monday, have not made good on their threat.
The strike was threatened to protest “the arbitrary and biased decision taken by the present Government, in violation of all previous written assurances and agreement, to splinter the 41 OFs into seven non-viable corporations,” according to a press statement issued on July 8 by the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) workers’ unions.
In a statement tabled in Parliament on Monday, the MoD explained: “The OFB employees’ Federations and Associations have opposed the Government decision to corporatize OFB. The employees’ federations have intimated, vide letter dated June 29, that they would serve strike notice on July 8 and would commence indefinite strike from July 26. However, no such notice has been received till date.”
The government has provided details to Parliament of the OFB’s corporatisation plan. The twelve major OFs that produce ammunition and explosives will be grouped into a single defence public sector undertaking (DPSU). Another five OFs that manufacture vehicles will be grouped into a second DPSU. Another five that manufacture weapons and equipment will form a third.
Corporatisation of Ordnance Factories
DPSU | Ordnance Factory | ||||
1. |
Ammunition & Explosives | 1. | Ammunition Factory Khadki | ||
2. | Cordite Factory Aruvankadu | ||||
3. | High Energy Projectile Factory Tiruchirapalli | ||||
4. | High Explosive Factory Khadki | ||||
5. | Ordnance Factory Bhandara | ||||
6. | Ordnance Factory Bolangir | ||||
7. | Ordnance Factory Chanda Chandrapur | ||||
8. | Ordnance Factory Dehu Road | ||||
9. | Ordnance Factory Itarsi | ||||
10. | Ordnance Factory Khamaria | ||||
11. | Ordnance Factory Nalanda | ||||
12. | Ordnance Factory Varangaon | ||||
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2. |
Vehicles | 1. | Engine Factory Avadi | ||
2. | Heavy Vehicle Factory Avadi | ||||
3. | Machine Tool Prototype Factory Ambernath | ||||
4. | Ordnance Factory Medak | ||||
5. | Vehicle Factory Jabalpur | ||||
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3. |
Weapons & Equipment | 1. | Field Gun Factory Kanpur | ||
2. | Gun Carriage Factory Jabalpur | ||||
3. | Gun and Shell Factory Cossipore | ||||
4. | Ordnance Factory Kanpur | ||||
5. | Ordnance Factory Project Korwa | ||||
6. | Ordnance Factory Tiruchirapalli | ||||
7. | Rifle Factory Ishapore | ||||
8. | Small Arms Factory Kanpur | ||||
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4. | Troop Comfort Items (TCI) | 1. | Ordnance Clothing Factory Avadi | ||
2. | Ordnance Clothing Factory shahjahanpur | ||||
3. | Ordnance Equipment Factory Kanpur | ||||
4. | Ordnance Equipment Factory Hazratpur | ||||
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5. |
Ancillary | 1. | Grey Iron Foundry Jabalpur | ||
2. | Metal and Steel Factory Ishapore | ||||
3. | Ordnance Factory Ambernath | ||||
4. | Ordnance Factory Ambajhari | ||||
5. | Ordnance Factory Bhusawal | ||||
6. | Ordnance Factory Dumdum | ||||
7. | Ordnance Factory Katni | ||||
8. | Ordnance Factory Muradnagar | ||||
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6. |
Opto-electronics | 1. | Ordnance Factory Chandigarh | ||
2. | Ordnance Factory Dehradun | ||||
3. | Opto-Electronics Factory Dehradun | ||||
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7. | Parachute | 1. | Ordnance Parachute Factory Kanpur | ||
Eight more OFs will come together to form an “ancillaries” group that will manufacture metals and steels. Three more OFs will form an “opto-electronics” group and a single unit – Ordnance Parachute Factory, Kanpur – will form the seventh vertical.
The MoD told Parliament that it had adequately addressed apprehensions of OFB employees’ associations about the corporatisation of OFB under the Secretary (Defence Production).
“It is pertinent to mention that Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) also held discussions with Government & OFB Federations as part of the conciliation process under the Industrial Disputes Act 1947,” stated the MoD.
“Regular interactions are being held with the stakeholders by the government. The Defence Minister also held meeting with the recognised Defence Civilian Employees’ Federations on July 16 and appealed them to continue discussions with the department,” the MoD said.
The MoD has taken pains to clarify that the restructuring process under way was not “privatization” of defence production, but “corporatization” that was intended to improve efficiency. “To enhance functional autonomy, efficiency and unleash new growth potential and innovation in OFs, the government has decided to convert the production units of OFB into seven DPSUs.
Since independence, the OFB has been effectively owned by the MoD. It has functioned directly under the department of defence production (DDP) and run by a specialist cadre of officers.
In contrast, the nine existing DPSUs are part-owned by the public and are administered along the same lines as PSUs.
These include four DPSUs engaged in shipbuilding: Mazagon Dock Ltd, Mumbai; Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers, Kolkata; Goa Shipyard Ltd and Hindustan Shipyard Ltd, Visakhapatnam.
There are five more DPSUs: Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd; Bharat Electronics Ltd; Bharat Dynamics Ltd; Bharat Earth Movers Ltd and Mishra Dhatu Nigam, Ltd.
# when videsh sanchar nigam was handed over to the tatas they were interested in the land. VSNL had huge acreage, for instance just outside delhi, and again within greater kailash. ditto across metro india. the closing down on military farms would include the huge land holdings within cities, eg military farm, agram in bangaloor. this could be a collateral of any corporatisation, privatization of railway stations in metros. ordnance factories too have many square kilometres of land. one of the advantages of not allowing these lands to be built up with concrete and steel structures is the requirement for lungs within cities. there should be parklands within urban concentrations; the foliage will absorb much of the co2, put back oxygen, help in keeping the atmosphere cool, help in precipitation, etc, etc. this is a proven model; singapore went into a huge tree planting and parkland program from the mid-sixties, and today the rain clouds coming in from sumatra on their way to the highlands in malaysia drop substantial rain on the city. to the extent that singapore gets rain around the year. trees, foliage, greenery make rain https://www.learningfromnature.com.au/drought-proof-increasing-rainfall/
ReplyDeleteCorporatization is not going improve efficiency. You cannot put bandaid for Cancer. Unless companies face existential threat and compete for their own survival and allow to fail things WILL NOT CHANGE. As long as public sector companies remain and employees remain, there is little scope for improvement. With China breathing down our neck or head i should say, if Govt doesnt take as a serious existential threat then nothing is going to change. Else new territories will get added to Aksai chain and we will shout and cry for some years and then take it as fate.
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