Ordnance Factory, HEPF employees seek payment of productivity-linked bonus

Following their conversion into divisions of defence public sector undertakings, defence civilian employees in Ordnance Factory and High Energy Projectile Factory here have requested payment of productivity-linked bonus this year.

The High Energy Projectile Factory, Tiruchi, was placed under Munitions India Limited (MIL), and the Ordnance Factory, Tiruchi, under Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Limited after the 41 defence production units under the former Ordnance Factory Board were grouped under seven defence public sector undertakings (AWEIL).

The All India Defence Employees Federation (AIDEF), Bharatiya Pratiraksha Mazdoor Sangh (BPMS), Confederation of Defence Recognized Associations (CDRA), and IOFSOA are advocating for the concerns of the employees on deemed deputations in the new corporations under the new system (Indian Ordnance Factories Service Officers Association). Their primary desire is to continue to be classified as Central Government Employees.

"Defence civil servants are employed by the central government. According to C. Srikumar, general secretary of AIDEF, "it is the responsibility of the Directorate of Ordnance, who is the custodian of their service matters, to process the proposal with the Department of Defence Production for the payment of Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB) for the employees on deemed deputation.

"No hardship should be inflicted upon employees. The Department of Defense Production has already received two letters from the AIDEF requesting the payment of productivity-linked bonuses to the staff before Dussehra "explained Mr Srikumar.

"The Ordnance Factories had been mindlessly corporatized, which had been painful for the workers. If this insensitive behaviour persists, we will launch agitations, including a strike, because we cannot quietly watch as bystanders "said he.