Punjab brick kiln owners on indefinite strike

Brick kilns owners of Punjab are on an indefinite strike since yesterday. The decision to go on strike until the government met their demands was made at a meeting of 15 district presidents of the state held at Hotel Le Baron last month. An immediate result of the strike might be a rise in brick prices.

Speaking to Business Standard, Ludhiana Brick Kiln Owners Association President Inderpal Singh Walia said the main problems being faced by brick kiln owners were shortage of labour.

"The Uttar Pradesh government has increased minimum wages of labourers by almost 60 per cent and a majority of the labourers working in Punjab are from UP. So minimum wages in Punjab are Rs 178 per 1,000 bricks while it is Rs 228 per 1,000 bricks in UP. We demand that the Centre ensure that wages in all the states are uniform so that we don't face labour problems. Secondly, Punjab Finance Minister Surinder Singla announced two months back that brick kiln owners would have to pay a fixed value-added tax (VAT). But the government is still not implementing it for reasons best known to them."

"Another problem faced by us is that we are forced to buy coal from the coal mafia at a very high rate. We want the state government to provide us coal at subsidised rates. We buy coal from the coal mafia at Rs 6,000 per tonnes while the government rate is Rs 4,200 per tonnes.''

Walia added that during the Parkash Singh Badal regime, brick kiln owners had to pay a royalty of Rs 45 per 1,000 bricks on the sand.

"When we protested, they fixed an amount of Rs 10,000 per brick kiln. When the present government came to power, they once again changed the rules. Now, we are paying Rs 10,000 per brick kiln and another Rs 3 per 1,000 bricks if the production exceeds 10 lakh bricks. In Haryana, the rate is Rs 12,000 per brick kiln. We want a fixed royalty amount in place."

"All the brick kilns of the state have stopped production and they will not budge until all our demands are met," added Walia.