By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR: Thousands of employees and executives of the defunct Nilachal Ispat Nigam Limited, located at Kalinga Nagar industrial belt of Odisha’s chrome rich Jajpur district, who have been running from pillar to post to get their pending salaries, received a massive relief after the Company management released a month salary to them following talks between BJD Rajya Sabha MP Dr Amar Patnaik with Union Industry, Commerce, Railways and Food Supply Minister Piyush Goyal.
“Happy at the good news! Wsh this had happened before Diwali! But the fight is not yet over. Still eight months’ salary pending! As written earlier to @PiyushGoyal ji, non payment of salary during these difficult times is an affront to the human rights & dignity of these workers,” MP Dr. Amar Patnaik tweeted @Amar4Odisha.
“We are greatful to @Amar4Odisha hon’ble MP(RS) for taking steps towards partly release of pending salary. Still 8 month’s salary pending. Save NINL by merging with SAIL/RINL/NMDC #SAVENINL#JusticeForNINLEmployees,” NINL_Executives tweeted @NINL_Executives.
“The NINL fraternity appreciates your great effort towrds saving NNL and its employees. As a result of your kind intervention, employees have recived part salary of March 2020 and previous dues as arrears although 8 months’ salary is till due. Alreday 2 deadlines of disinvestment have crossed , nobody knows when disinvestment will be completed, we requst your intervention to resume the plant operation immediately by merging with Steel PSUs like SAIL,RINL and NMDC and to start its captive mines,” NINL Executive Association said in a letter to MP Dr Patnaik.
On November 26 this year, MP Dr Patnaik had urged Goyal to take step so that employees of defunct NINL get their 8 months pending salary. Operations at 1.1 million tonne integrated NINL plant , are suspended at the moment. Future of about 5,000 employees, mainly of local population, has plunged into uncertainty. While produced materials worth about Rs 200 crore are lying in the premises of NINL, its employees are not getting salary since March on the grounds of funds crunch.
NINL is a joint venture company, in which four central PSUs — MMTC, National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) and MECON — and two Odisha government companies IPICOL and Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) are shareholders. In January 2020, the Centre gave an in-principle approval for strategic sale of NINL by allowing the six PSU shareholders to sell their stake in the steel company.
Despite proactive steps of the State Government, as MMTC and NMDC are not responding, the production in the integrated steel plant has been stopped. While the OMC has advanced Rs 174 crore to meet the debt servicing, Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy had earlier took up the issue with the Union Government to sort out the issues.
One iron ore mine was allotted in favour of NINL with about 110 million ton reserve in Koida in the year 1999 which is yet to be made operational. On the other hand supplying raw materials from open market to NINL, the MMTC has gained commission to the tune of about Rs 944 crore. It is pertinent to mention here that the MMTC has equity share of Rs 368 crore in the NINL.
It is alleged that the MMTC is not taking interest in selling out produced materials lying in the premises of the NINL. These materials include pig iron, coke breeze and steel scraps, etc.In the meantime, distressed over non-payment of wages for months, one worker of the NINL namely Kishore Jena has committed suicide. Other employees of NINL are also passing the worst period. Around 10,000 families are depending upon the NINL directly and indirectly and due to the crisis in the plant, they are virtually in starvation.
Meanwhile, the Neelachal Executive Association(NEA) has alleged that closing down of the plant has resulted in huge revenue loss of more than Rs 2,400 crore per annum. Future of about 5,000 employees mainly of local population including nearly 1,000 displaced and land losers mostly tribal and weaker section of society is in darkness.
