Monday, July 23, 2012
By Shilpa Chopra
Maruti not to hire contract workers, production halt at Manesar continues
The Manesar crisis has taught Maruti many lessons. It is this plant that has dampened its prospects worldwide in 2011 and it this that has delayed the launch of new Maruti Swift and Maruti Swift Dzire. It is this plant that will be the sole reason why Maruti’s upcoming models such as new Maruti 800 and Maruti XA Alpha will be delayed. Now that it has irked Maruti so much, the largest car maker has decided that the contract workers at any of its plant won’t be at the centre stage and it will be hiring permanent full time employees. The lessons learnt will be applied immediately as soon as production is restored at the plant and it is expected that there will be too many harsh changes in the system.
Notably, violence broke out recently at Manesar plant killing the General Manager of the HR department and over 100 other workers were injured following a tussle between a managerial staff and one of the workers. The plant was soon evacuated as the workers burnt down and damaged some of the property at the plant. Following the incident, over 90 people were arrested and police inquiry is on. Meanwhile, the Maruti car plant remained closed even today as the management desisted from started production following safety of workers. On the other hand some reports suggest that Naxalites could be behind the terror and violence at the plant. However, there is no clear evidence of it as of yet.
This is the first major incident after production was hit in 2011 for almost 59 days and Maruti had to suffered huge losses due to it. Meanwhile, the production of diesel engines as well as of Maruti Dzire and Maruti Swift could not be shifted to Gurgaon plant as the latter is already running in full capacity. Notably, a majority of petrol cars including Maruti Alto, Maruti Eeco etc. are produced at the Gurgaon plant.
