)
The Tamil Nadu government has blamed the Congress-led UPA government for the loss of jobs at Nokia’s factory near Chennai. The factory, which had around 8,000 workers directly employed at a time, now has only around 850 workers. Besides, thousands of jobs were also cut by Nokia’s suppliers, who have set factories in and around the Nokia SEZ.
Intervening during a debate, at the Assembly, on the demand for grants to the department of labour and employment, industries minister, P Thangamani said the previous Congress-led government at the Centre was responsible for the problems related to Nokia India.
Alleging that the “retrospective” income tax claim by the previous central government was the trigger, he said it would lead the company to fight legal battles in various courts. This resulted in the factory at Sriperumbudur near Chennai being left out of the global deal when Microsoft acquired Nokia.
It may be noted the mobile handset manufacturing facility of Nokia at Sriperumbudur, near Chennai, was excluded from the deal between Nokia and Microsoft for the formers’ Devices and Services business, as the Income tax department at the Centre had frozen the facility, as it has slashed a Rs 21,000 crore tax notice on the company. The department refused to allow transfer of the plant till the dues claimed by the department are not remitted by the company.
Since the factory was freezed by the Department it was not transferred to Microsoft, said the State Minister informed the Assembly. It may be noted, Tamil Nadu has also slapped a Rs 2,400 crore notice on the company alleging that the company sold mobile phones meant for exports in the domestic market and they need to pay VAT for three fiscals including 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12. All these matters are now in various Courts.
When the Tamil Nadu tax claim matter came at the Madras high court on last week, the state government has sought three months time to complete the fresh assessment, which was directed by the division bench earlier.
Following the tax issues curbing the transfer of assets, the company has announced Voluntary Retirement Scheme in the factory. The state Minister stated the administration had intervened with the Nokia management on behalf of the workers, however, workers who faced an uncertain future opted for the VRS. The minister added that it was due to the state government’s support that at least 900 workers were retained by Nokia even though they are paid wages without any work, the Minister said.
A Soundararajan, MLA representing CPI-M, who raised the issue in the Assembly today, later said that the remaining workers currently has job, but the works after completion of the current orders is uncertain, he said.
He added, while the State government competed to attract Nokia's investment, it has not extended any commercial tax concession to the company, said the Minister.
Soundararajan, who is also the leader of the Nokia workers' union, stated in the Assembly that over 8,000 jobs were lost at Nokia alone and over 20,000 jobs including those in vendor units catering to Nokia, and the sTate government did not take any action to protect the job. It was in response to this allegation, the Minister said that the blame has to go to the previous government in the centre.
