Bajaj Auto’s Managing Director Rajiv Bajaj has confirmed that there are 250 active cases of COVID-19 among persons associated with the automaker’s Aurangabad facility in Maharashtra. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Bajaj said while there had been no salary cut so far, the company would have to lower wages by 50 percent if another hard lockdown was imposed.
Bajaj said that it was not correct to presume that people were getting infected and dying at the production facility. He further said that a lot of the people who have tested positive for COVID-19 were not coming to work and that many were already locked down in containment zones.
Gram Panchayats are also in agreement with the company on keeping the plant open, he added.
With over two lakh COVID-19 cases reported so far, Maharashtra remains the most-severely affected state in the country. Besides the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Aurangabad, where the Bajaj Auto plant is located, has also seen high number of cases.
As many as five people have died due to the outbreak in the factory.
Situation on the ground is contrary to media reports, Bajaj claimed, adding that the management was in touch with union and local administration on daily basis.
There is zero social distancing in Aurangabad and 60 percent people not wearing masks, Bajaj claimed even as he reiterated that the “safest place to be in Aurangabad is inside the factory”.
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Reports had earlier suggested that workers at the Aurangabad plant were demanding temporary closure after a number of employees tested positive for COVID-19.
"People are scared to come to work. Some are still coming but some are taking leave," said Thengade Bajirao, president of the Bajaj Auto Workers' Union.
For every employee testing positive, four who work close to them have to be quarantined, affecting productivity, he said.
With an annual production capacity of over 3.3 million motorbikes and other vehicles, the Waluj plant accounts for more than 50 percent of the manufacturing volume in India for the country’s biggest exporter of motorbikes.
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