Resolution passed at 42nd National Conference of AITUC
Resolution demanding for withdrawal of the unilateral Government decision of Corporatizing the 41 Ordnance Factories under the Ordnance Factory Board into 7 Non-viable DPSU’s.
The 42nd National Conference of AITUC held at Alappuzha, Kerala from the 16th to 20th of December 2022 has noted with very serious concern, the impact of the BJP Government’s unilateral decision of Corporatization on the 41 Ordnance Factories on National Security and the 76,000 Defence civilian employees. The Government with lot of fanfare has broken the Ordnance Factory Board into multiple PSU’s with the ulterior motive of privatizing or closing down the Ordnance Factories. It is now more than one year after the ill-conceived decision of the Government and the Government is deliberately making the nation’s most strategical Defence industry sick by not providing work to more than 50% of the Ordnance Factories and all those work which can be done in the Ordnance Factories are being handed over to private sector.
The Ordnance Factories are the fourth force of the Defence of our Country and are “War Reserve” industry. Destroying the Ordnance Factories to favour the private corporates and liquidating these factories will have serious impact on the National security and Defence preparedness of our country. The 76,000 Defence civilian employees of the 41 Ordnance Factories are subjected to unnecessary mental torture and hardship since they were all kept on deemed deputation in these factories and attempts are being made by the management of the 7 Corporations to tinker with their service conditions.
The AIDEF, BPMS and CDRA the major recognized employees’ organization have already submitted a joint letter to the Defence Minister exposing the failure of the Government decision in Corporatizing the Ordnance Factories with fact and figures and have demanded to withdraw the Government decision of Corporatization and to restore the status of the Ordnance Factories as a departmental organization. The latest setback is that the Sweden based Stockholm International Peace Research institute has removed the name of Indian Ordnance Factories from the latest list of World’s top 100 Defence manufacturing industries.
AITUC fully supports the demand of the employees of 41 Ordnance Factories to withdraw Corporatization and to retain their status as Central Government Employees / Defence Civilian Employees and urges upon the Government of India to reconsider its decision in the interest of National security and Defence preparedness and to withdraw its wrong decision of Corporatizing the Ordnance Factories. AITUC will stand shoulder to shoulder with the Defence Civilian Employees in all their struggle against corporatization and also to save the Defence industry from the present crisis.