A sick textile mill, which was taken over by the National Textile Corporation (NTC), had paid Rs seven crore during the last three years to workers as idle wages "" for not doing any work.
Disclosing this at a press conference here yesterday, Rashtriya Mill Mazdoor Sangh (RMMS) president Haribhau Naik said the NTC itself had paid Rs 700 crore so far as idle wages to workers "" permanent employees of taken-over mills who cannot be laid off or retrenched according to labour laws. Naik, who is also a prominent Intuc leader, said the mills cannot function profitably unless they are modernised.
The government, on the other hand, pleads that there is a paucity of funds for modernisation.
However, it prefers to pay hundreds of crores as idle wages, which could be used for modernisation of the mills. Idle wages are not only a national loss but also spoil the work culture of the labour, the former Maharashtra minister added.
The RMMS chief made a strong plea to the centre for advancing the funds needed for modernisation of Model mills, Empress mills and the Nagpur Weavers' Cooperative Spinning Mills, pending finalisation of the revival package for the mills by the Bureau of Industrial Finance and Reconstruction (BIFR).
He said the RMMS would file a writ petition shortly seeking criminal action by provident fund authorities against public sector textile mills which had deducted provident fund from wages but failed to deposit it.