Ordnance workers launch agitation to protest production curtailment

Barrackpore, Apr 26 (UNI) Ordnance Factories National Majdoor Union, Ishapur, has launched an agitation to force the authority to revoke its decision to curtail arms and ammunition production in the Ishapur Rifle Factory.

The union members held protest demonstrations that began yesterday opposing the decision of curtailment of production despite increasing of annual defence budget.

Nearly 500 employees squatted at the factory's main gate with festoons and shouted slogans demanding immediate revocation of the order of reduction of annual production including sophisticated weapons.

Union's working president Pradip Sarkar has alleged that the Ordnance Board had instructed the Rifle Factory authority here to reduce arms production in this fiscal year without assigning any reason.

He said while the Ordnance Factory Board had modernized the century-year-old factory here spending more than Rs.200 crore for enhancing production of the most advanced 5.56 mm INSAS, a quality combat rifle, at least 80000 pieces per annum. The recent order lowered the production target to only 65,000 rifles for 2007-08, nearly 20 per cent below the installed capacity, Mr Sarkar claimed.

The National Majdoor Union leader alleged the move of the authority was to cripple India's best arms factory here which employed about 2500 workforce.

The Union alleged the government was trying to shift the jobs to the private sector and keep its state-of-art CNC machines, which were installed in recent years, idle.

Rifle Factory has got an order for dispatching some 500 such rifles to the Assam Rifles and the delivery would take place soon.

Mr Sarkar said they were determined to resist the authority's move to curtail the production target in Ishapur unit.

UNI