Govt to give ex-gratia to Jessop and Dunlop labourers till formal takeover

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had announced that the State government has decided to take over the companies in the State Assembly on Friday and two respective bills - The Jessop and Company Limited (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertaking) Bill 2016 and Dunlop India Limited (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertaking) Bill 2016 - had been passed on the last day of the session in Assembly.

Amit Mitra, the State Finance Minister, on Monday said in Nabanna that a Group of Ministers (GOM) has been formed to look into the entire process of taking over of the factories. 

The GOM is comprised of the State Agriculture Minister Purnendu Bose, Panchayat Minister Subrata Mukherjee, Education Minister Partha Chatterjee, Labour Minister Malay Ghatak and Mitra himself.

Mitra said that the Chief Minister had asked to look into the matter of giving the ex-gratia to the labourers and accordingly the decision has been taken to give the payment to around 1000 employees every month.

There are around 464 employees in Jessop and around 550 in Dunlop India Limited. The State 

government will have to bear an expense of Rs 1 crore every month to give the ex-gratia to the labourers.

It is learnt that the decision has been taken considering that the labourers will continue suffering till the process of taking over of the companies is over. 

The matter will get streamlined once the production in the companies start and the employees start working in the factories.

The bills are waiting for the nod of the Governor and if he wants then he may send it to the President for his clearance.

According to a source in Nabanna, both the companies are out of the purview of the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR). So it is expected that there will not be such glitches in completion of the taking over process. 

More importantly, it is possible to start production in the factory of Dunlop India Limited at anytime. Whether the present situation of Jessop permits initiation of work is need to be checked once. 

It may be recalled that around 4 to 5 factories were taken over during the erstwhile Left Front regime and Rs 50 crore was invested to give around Rs 1500 ex-gratia every month to each of the employees of those factories. In the 80’s the Central Government had also nationalised 5 jute mills in the state.