Maruti Suzuki Corporation today resumed its operation at the controversial plant at Manesar. Maruti Officials started the operations amid tight security of 500 police personnel. 200 personnels would always remain inside the manufacturing division.
To further aggravate the security, Maruti has also formed its own special force numbering 100, which includes ex-service men.
The company had earlier announced that only 300 permanent workers will resume work. Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) Chief Operating Officer (Administration) S Y Siddiqui had said yesterday that the workers would operate just a single shift from 8 am to 4:30 pm.
Initially, about 150 cars are expected to be rolled out every day instead of the plant’s normal capacity of 1,500- 1,700 units. Production will be gradually ramped up at the plant, which has an annual capacity of 5.5 lakh units.
The company had declared a lockout at Manesar plant on July 21 following the worst ever violence in its history on July 18. The plant suffered damages estimated to be less than Rs 10 crore, while the overall production loss during the lockout was pegged at around Rs 1,400 crore.
MSI has also decided to terminate services of 500 permanent workers, who were allegedly found to be involved in violence inside the plant. Besides, MSI is also said to be planning to remove another 500 contract workers over their alleged role in the violence and arson.
Prior to the incident, the plant had an employee strength of 3,300, of which 1,528 were permanent.
To increase the workforce, the company will start fresh recruitment of permanent workers from September 2 and existing contract workers will also be considered for the same.
In an interview with CNBC-TV18, the Chairman of Maruti Suzuki, RC Bhargava said the suspended workers may try and jeopardise operations once again. Moreover, it would not be surprising to see the unions taking the matter to court, he added.
Further, Bhargava emphasised on the fact that Maruti has a zero-tolerance policy towards violence. Hence, the company is trying to do away with issues that led to the violent clashes. The contract worker system was allegedly one of the main reasons for the trouble and Bhargava acknowledges the fact that the system was not ideal. Moreover, the company is now trying to do away with the contract system completely.