Expressing confidence in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for Make in India, the three main trade unions of the India Ordnance Factories have asked the PM to cancel the proposed corporatisation the Ordnance Factories Board (OFB), Hindu BusinessLine reported.
These unions had recently postponed a strike opposing the move, the paper added.
Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.
Terming the recommendation as "imaginary", union leaders C Srikumar, R Srinivasan and Mukesh Singh said it only took into account the commercial aspect and favoured vested interest groups.
The letter pointed out how the move would leave national assets associated with the factories up for grabs. This includes prime land of more than 60,000 acres, HBL noted.
The letter added that, even if implemented, the 41 Ordnance factories would be unable to compete with private sector players for Army orders as the latter practises contract work – which significantly slashed costs.
"In majority cases, the contract workers work for long hours and are paid less than minimum wage. Government, as a model employer, should not encourage such type of open exploitation," their letter read.
"Instead of jeopardising the security of our country by corporatisation of ordnance factories, the government may formulate policies to enhance the capability of OFB to contribute immensely to defence preparedness and encourage OFB to achieve its established objective of indigenisation and self-reliance," the letter said.
Espousing confidence that the PM would not “destroy the ordnance factories by converting them into a corporation", the letter appealed for the authorities to "retain the ordnance factories as a government department and formulate policies which can further strengthen the 218-years-old Defence Industry of our country."
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