After 10 years, sacked employees at the Maruti Manesar plant seek reinstatement.
Jitendra Kumar one of the employees leading the legal battle for reinstatement who were among those sacked after the violence, said, “Around 150 workers joined the agitation and got support from workers and trade unions in Gurugram.”
“The matter is pending in the labor court for six years and the end is not in sight. It is a very long and tedious process. So, we decided to agitate again to unite and press for restoration”, Jitendra Kumar said.
“Of the 546 permanent employees sacked by the company in 2012, 426 were terminated without any internal investigation citing ‘loss of trust’ and were not on the SIT’s list of accused persons. We moved the court in 2016 saying it was illegal,” Jitendra Kumar added.
Maruti has laid off a total of 546 permanent employees sacked in 2012 due to violence in Manesar.
During the investigation process, it was found that 426 did not have any criminal charges. Additionally, a total of 148 workers were arrested in connection with the violence at the plant, the Gurugram trial court had in 2017 convicted 31 workers and acquitted 117.
In a memorandum to the Haryana Chief Minister at the end of the two-day hunger strike, the dismissed workers have sought the intervention of the Government of India in the matter to ensure their reinstatement.
Devendra Dhankhar was working as a permanent employee at Maruti company for almost seven years when he was sacked. Violence at the company’s Manesar plant on 18 July 2012, he claimed that he was in the company’s dispensary when the violence broke out.
For this reason, and since he was not keeping well, his name did not figure in the Special Investigation Team’s list of accused activists. However, he was sacked by the company with 546 permanent employees citing “loss of trust”.
Another activist, Khusiram, who is leading the two-day protest, said the response to the hunger strike was encouraging and similar protests for a longer duration may soon be held.
