Workers of the National Textile Corporation (NTC) Mills will breathe a sigh of relief as the Centre has allocated an amount of Rs. 120 crore towards the mills in the budget.
The workers can expect their long pending dues, which include bonuses and salaries will be released soon.
Of the 23 operational mills, seven are in Tamil Nadu with five in Coimbatore district. These mills were closed down during the start of the pandemic in 2020 as a result of lockdown policies. Workers and trade unions of the nearly 3000 workers staged protests and demanded the factories be opened soon.
Functionaries of ‘Save NTC’, a workers’ federation have been in contact with ministers and officials from the Textile department and stressing upon their demands. The NTC Mills administration denied outstanding benefits demanded by the unions citing a financial crisis.
Workers are hoping that after the allocation of Rs. 120 crore from the Union Government, their dues will be cleared and the mills will reopen.
“Over 3,000 labourers including both permanent and temporary employees, have been affected due to the pending dues and closure of the mills in TN, including the 2,000 workers of the five mills in Coimbatore. The Rs. 120 crore allocation for the mills comes as a slight relief to us and we expect that arrears will be paid using this amount,” said TS Rajamani, President of Coimbatore District Textile Workers Union (CDTWU) and State Secretary of Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS).
