As Aurangabad goes into lockdown, questions raised on Bajaj Auto's Waluj plant

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With the local administration in Aurangabad opting for a district-wide lockdown for nine days starting July 10, questions have now been raised on the Bajaj Auto's Waluj facility and if it was following COVID-19 related standard operating procedures (SOPs).

Sources told Moneycontrol that little more than 400 COVID-19 positive cases have emerged, including 10 deaths, from the automaker's Waluj factory. The rise in cases, sources said, is attributed to resistance from the employees to follow the SOPs.

These floor workers said a large proportion of the workforce did not wear masks while on duty, flouting one of the crucial SOPs. “Workers have complained of heat and breathing problems while wearing a mask,” a worker who is part of the union told Moneycontrol.

Rajiv Bajaj, Managing Director, Bajaj Auto, had earlier noted that 60 percent people in Aurangabad don't wear masks.

Other workers who are part of the union told Moneycontrol that the reason behind the spike in the number of cases at the Waluj plant is because of a previously existing medical condition of workers, most of whom are above the age of 50.

“The Chakan plant has not had a single case so far. It is not because a different set of SOPs was employed at that plant compared to the Waluj plant. Both factories have similar SOPs. Workers at the Chakan factory have been following all the rules thoroughly. Besides the average age of a worker at the Chakan plant in under 30 years, whereas at the Waluj plant it is 55 years,” said another worker from the union.

COVID-19 has beem found to be more lethal for older age groups, as per studies.

While the Waluj factory continues to report new COVID-19 positive cases, Bajaj Auto’s other plant located 220 km away at Chakan, Pune has not reported even a single case so far.

The Waluj plant is the oldest of the three manufacturing plants run by Bajaj Auto. It employs more than 8,100 employees and contractors, producing Platina, Discover, three-wheelers and the Qute. A bulk of Bajaj Auto’s exports are managed from this plant.

Pay cutsA decision to enforce a lockdown was taken on July 6 by the Aurangabad Divisional Commissioner Sunil Kendrekar after a meeting with district officials and corporators.

The lockdown will not just result in the shutting down of the Bajaj Auto factory, but the entire industrial belt in the vicinity as well, which includes the plants of auto ancillaries.

This will be the first shutdown of the plant after the company reopened on April 24, following a month long closure. Bajaj had indicated of a 50 percent reduction in salaries in the event of a lockdown.

“We are waiting for final instruction. If there is a lockdown in Waluj and the plant has to be closed, then those employees will face a 50 percent cut for the duration of the lockdown," said a company source.

“Bajaj has helped us, but the number of cases is not coming down. I have been asked by the company to get quarantined for seven days because my co-worker tested positive. Thankfully, my report has come out negative,” said Thengade Bajirao, leader of the worker union at Bajaj Auto's Waluj plant.