RAYAGADA: The main gate of IMFA’s Therubali plant remained locked for the second consecutive day on Thursday due to an agitation by some locals who are demanding fulfilment of assurances made by the firm’s management at the tripartite meeting held last month.
Production at the plant has come to a standstill due to the stir which on Wednesday was opposed by four organisations, including IMFA contractual workers’ union, IMFA workers’ union, IMFA labour union and Adivasi Mahasangha of Rayagada.
Around 100 employees of IMFA, led by Adivasi Mahasangha president Applaswamy Kadraka and secretary Basant Ullaka, gheraoed the collectorate and staged a protest against the stir. In a memorandum addressed to the Collector, they stated that the employees of the company, who want to join work, are being intimidated by the local agitators.
Later, a six-member team of the four unions met Collector Guha Poonam Tapas Kumar and discussed their plight. They said the employees have not been paid their salaries by the IMFA authorities as the plant’s operations have come to a standstill. The Collector asked the union leaders to submit a letter stating that the payment of salaries of regular employees of the company by the management has been withheld and the district administration will look into it. Meanwhile, the situation at the agitation site is tense but under control.