Manesar violence: 1 year on, still unresolved

It’s been exactly a year since the horrific violence that shook Maruti's Manesar plant, a black dot in India’s automobile history.

But even today, India's largest carmaker is sitting on a whole host of unresolved issues with its workers, while an uneasy calm prevails over the entire industrial belt; report CNBC-TV18’s Sunanda Jayaseelan and Kritika Saxena. Also read: Maruti cuts diesel engine output, 200 contract staff hit Protests, destruction, and violence that turned lethal - July 18 2012 is a day Maruti Suzuki will never forget. A day that marked one of the worst labour problems in India's automobile history as Maruti's Manesar plant burnt and a company official died. Today, exactly a year later, things are still not normal. Authorities aren't taking chances with prohibitory orders imposed by the District Magistrate under section 144 of the criminal procedure code to avoid any possible confrontation between agitating workers and villagers near the plant While 147 workers continue to be in jail at Manesar, over 547 permanent workers claim they have been removed from their jobs without any reason, and a formal report by a special investigating team in Haryana based on the person responsible for the violence and death is still awaited.  And the road ahead doesn’t look any less rocky. India’s largest car maker is seeing a slowdown in sales, down over 12 percent in June Y-o-Y, which in turn has forced the company to announce it will take an additional one-day plant shutdown at its Manesar and Gurgaon plants in addition to a 6-day plant shutdown at both plants this month. It has also scaled back production of its diesel engines at its Manesar plant on the back of slowing sales. Analysts are worried all this could result in layoffs of temporary workers which could lead to further tension. For now though, CNBC-TV18 learns that trade union members are planning to take out solidarity marches across India on Thursday to mark the anniversary of Maruti's black Wednesday.