Maruti MD Nakanishi apologises to injured officials

, Jul 27: Shinzo Nakanishi, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of

India Ltd (MSIL) spent most part of the last week visiting various hospitals in Gurgaon and apologising to company officials injured in the recent scuffles.

Nakanishi, 65, said his own country, Japan, had also seen labour troubles after World War II but he never saw anything like what d in India over the last few weeks. He said he did not have any idea about the reasons causing such a flare-up.

On July 18, a scuffle broke out between the workers and management at the company's Manesar plant in which a senior executive was killed and 93 injured. India's largest car manufacturer announced an indefinite lock-out at the plant after extensive damages were caused to the facilities.

The latest problem, the fourth in last one year, has cost the company daily losses of Rs 70 crore. Maruti's share in passenger vehicle sales in the domestic market was also hit by the continuing trouble.

Nakanishi, however, said that they would not compromise on violence.

The huge workforce at the facility fled after the gruesome incident on July 18 and the union leaders were absconding. The incident has also given a big blow to the management's morale. Nakanishi said safety of the employees was his top priority even as they were looking to resume work at the plant. "The guilty should be arrested," he said.

Nakanishi said the company have seen labour unrest in the past but what happened on July 18 was something criminal. He said if there was any external factor causing the flare-up, it was the company's mistake for having failed to sense trouble.

The Suzuki executive said wage negotiations were going on for three months and a final settlement was expected to come into force in some weeks. Nakanishi said despite all problems, the company will abide by its plans to expand capacity of the Manesar plant and not pull out of the region.

OneIndia News