After a month of uncertainty, Maruti Suzuki India on Tuesday reopened its Manesar plant amid heavy security. The plant was shut after unprecedented violence on July 19 in which a senior company official was brutally killed and 100 other officers were injured.
The state government has deployed around 500 personnel to ensure safe operations at the plant. Around 200 policemen from Haryana have been deployed inside the plant while 300 others will man different locations of the factory premises.
According to a senior official from Haryana Police, senior executives of the company will be provided Personal Security Officers (PSO’s). The company has also put in place its own special force numbering 100 which includes ex-service men to man the factory premises.
Workers stood in the queue outside the factory gate this morning despite a heavy downpour to re-start work at the facility which rolls out some of Maruti’s best selling models.
The company has already announced that only 300 permanent workers will resume work. Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) Chief Operating Officer, Administration SY Siddiqui had said on Monday that the workers would operate just a single shift from 8 am to 4:30 pm.
To start with, about 150 cars are expected to be rolled out every day instead of the plant’s full capacity of 1,500- 1,700 units. Production will be gradually ramped up at the plant which has an annual capacity of 5.5 lakh units.
MSI has also decided to terminate services of 500 permanent workers who were allegedly found to be involved in violence inside the plant. Besides MSI is also said to be planning to remove another 500 contract workers over their alleged role in the violence and arson.
Before the incident the plant had an employee strength of 3,300 of which 1,528 were permanent.
To ramp up the workforce it will start fresh recruitment of permanent workers from September 2 and existing contract workers will also be considered for the same.