SAIL restarts supply to Nagpur

The first rake of the Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) in more than seven months emptied at the Itwari railway siding last week, signalling the end of a stalemate between SAIL and mathadi workers over wages.

In July last year SAIL had closed down its three stockyards - the Itwari and Kalamna railway sidings and the one at Bagadganj - on the ground that the company incurred losses due to the high rates charged by mathadi workers for loading and unloading steel consignments.

At the same time, it had appointed the Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) as its consignment agent. The SAIL consignments were to land at the CWC stockyard at Butibori and their handling was to be entrusted to non-mathadi board workers.

SAIL's idea was to free itself from the Mathadi Act as it thought the Act was not applicable in Butibori.