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Govt not to interfere in Balco transfers

Gaurav Raghuvanshi in New Delhi

The government has refused to be drawn into the controversy surrounding the mass transfer of Bharat Aluminium Corporation Ltd employees saying that the new management of the divested company was free to decide on how to deploy its manpower. Lady employees of Balco who do not wish to relocate have, however, been allowed to exit the organisation through a voluntary retirement scheme.

"Once the government has relinquished control, it is for the new management (Sterlite) to decide how it wants to use its manpower. We had got a representation from the employees regarding the mass transfers, but we decided against interfering in the matter," Ravi Shankar Prasad, minister of state for coal and mines, said.

The government, however, impressed upon Sterlite, which controls Balco with a 51 per cent stake acquired through the divestment in the company, to grant VRS to women employees on "humanitarian grounds", the minister said.

"We were convinced with the argument of the new management that the company needed to retain its talent in view of the Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 50 billion) expansion for the company. The requirement of people is at the plant in Korba, not in Delhi and other big cities and there is nothing wrong in asking the executives to move out," Prasad said.

Balco employees' union chief P N Sharma said the concession of allowing only ladies to avail of the VRS had benefited only 17 employees and was not acceptable as it sought to make a gender-based distinction.

Even for women employees, the company had not made the ex-gratia payment but instead handed them post-dated cheques for the amount spread over the next 9-12 years without interest, Sharma said.

As per the VRS announced in July 2001, employees were eligible for payment of two months of pay for every year of service completed or number of years remaining, whichever was lesser.

Nearly 1,700 employees had applied for the VRS, but their applications had been rejected by the new management on the grounds that their services were required for the company's expansion.

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