Railway wagon manufacturing unit in Ballygunge downs shutter

Around 194 people lost their jobs on Monday owing to temporary suspension of work in the wagon manufacturing factory at BESCO Limited in Ballygunge here.

On Monday morning, as the workers went to begin work for the day at the factory, they found the main gate of the factory closed.

The security personnel told them that he had been given no instructions to open the gate.

After around half an hour, the factory authorities put up a notice stating that all work in the factory has been suspended temporarily.

There are no permanent workers employed by the factory and all 194 are casual labourers.

Many of them had been agitating for the past few months, demanding a hike in their daily wages.

At present, each labourer at the factory gets Rs 175 as daily wages.

The factory is a 75-year-old wagon manufacturing unit. BESCO Limited's last agreement with the Railways took place in 2015 and since then there have been no further agreements.

In such a situation, there has practically been no work in the factory for some time. The workers had no choice but to sit idle.

On being asked about the shutdown, the factory authorities refused to comment on the development.

Meanwhile, the workers began a sit-in-demonstration outside the factory demanding it reopening.

A large contingent of police was posted at the spot to avoid any untoward incident.

It may be mentioned that another railway coach manufacturing unit in the state, owned by Jessop & Company, was also not in good condition when it was taken up by industrialist Pawan Ruia.

Workers at the factory, located in Dum Dum, had high hopes from the unit after Ruia took over.

However, Ruia was last year arrested on charges of failing to supply coaches to the Railways and stealing the raw materials supplied for the factory.