Harsha Kakar
Nearly 82,000 employees of 41 ordnance factories will once again proceed on strike after talks with a high-level committee failed to convince employee unions of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) on the Government’s reasons for planned corporatisation. They had withdrawn their strike in August, after assurance by the ministry that their concerns will be addressed by a high-level committee.
Unconvinced, their Union leaders announced that they will again “proceed on strike from January 8, 2020. The strike will not only be on grounds of corporatisation alone, but also against labour law amendments introduced by the government in the Parliament.” Clearly an excuse to stop work, cease production and enhance pressure on the Government, when security challenges are on the rise and shortfalls in ammunition holding are increasing.
Disagreements with unions stem from Government plans of corporatizing these factories. The Government is of the opinion that these factories have been facing performance issues for some time, a view supported by their sole customers, the armed forces. The Government statement mentioned that they ‘lack professional attitude as is required from a production organisation’. It believes that corporatization will boost competition and enhance self-reliance in arms and ammunition production. Since they possessed monopoly, there was no incentive for them to improve quality and quantity in production.
In a recent report, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) pulled up the ordnance factories for not producing desired quantities of specific ammunition as required by the forces. Its report stated, ‘A significant quantity of Army’s demand for some principal ammunition items remained outstanding as on March 31 2018, thus adversely affecting their operational preparedness. In addition, the exports by OFB decreased by 39 per cent in 2017-18 over 2016-17.’
The reality has been that ordnance factories always accept demands of the armed forces for supply of ammunition and equipment, without considering their own production capacities. Knowing they were the sole suppliers they always fell short in quality and quantity. This has over the years reduced holdings in critical types of ammunition.
The CAG also hauled up ordnance factories for their poor quality, holding them responsible for 18 accidents during training from six different types of ammunition, mainly due to fuze related defects. Its shortfall in production of fuzes had led to the army holding ammunition worth 403 crores lying in unusable condition due to lack of fuzes, as per the same report. There are also reports of large quantities of fuzes being rejected due to defects.
The Army has over the years been stating that faulty ammunition has resulted in accidents at the rate of one a week and caused fatalities, injuries and damage to equipment. Forces began losing confidence on most types of ammunition produced by these factories. All these complaints and degrading comments have instead of pushing ordnance factories to improve quality and enhance quantity, rather led them to proceed on strike, further slowing down production.
At the Chandigarh Lit Fest last week, General VP Malik (retired), the COAS during Kargil war stated that the shortfall in ammunition holdings compelled the army to purchase ammunition from the global market. This resulted in old and unusable ammunition being provided. Had ordnance factories functioned as expected, this grave situation would not have arisen.
On the contrary, their Union President states, ‘the ordnance factories, treated as the fourth force of Defence in India, have played a crucial role in ensuring timely and quality supplies to our forces.’ The statement added, ‘through their hard work and dedication, it is these workers and employees who have proved their commitment to the nation.’ Ironic that a statement flowing from the ordnance factories unions indicate their dedication to the nation, while their actions are the opposite.
They should have been striving to complete their planned orders, rather than proceeding on strike, to prove that they are capable of improvement without being corporatized. On the contrary their negative actions would push the forces to bank on the private sector for production rather than on an agency which is unreliable and unwilling to change its work culture and ethos.
The fear within the ordnance factory employees is not concerning poor quality and quantity of production but losing privileges due to them being Government employees. A statement issued by the union stated, ‘82,000 central Government employees working as defence civilian employees will lose their status and they will become employees of a corporation, thereby depriving them of various benefits available to them.’
There are 41 Ordnance Factories, functioning under the OFB. They are responsible to manufacture critical items for defence forces including arms, ammunition, tanks and artillery guns. They were established post-Independence when the country lacked a strong technological base. With the private sector gearing up for participating in defence production, the special privilege being given to ordnance factories must cease and they should be made to compete with others in open competition.
Taking a cue from the ordnance factories, HAL employees also proceeded on strike in Oct this year. Their demand is for enhanced salaries, despite poor quality and quantity in production. Unless they enhance quality and quantity those dependent on them would begin turning to the private sector, leading to further losses in revenue.
The work culture in all Government run organizations has been deteriorating over the years. This is because of assured benefits and security in jobs, while not being accountable for any accidents which occur consequent to their poor quality in production and lack of quality checks. This is compounded with them being granted self-certification in quality assurance. Their employees are more concerned of their own welfare rather than taking responsibility towards their role and tasks. In the end it is the armed forces which lose lives due to their callousness and laxity.
If this is their approach, then justifiably, there should be no compromise. The Government should seriously consider shutting down most of these failing organizations and opting for sale of their assets to the private sector. Alongside this should be an open offer for present employees willing to join the private sector which takes over their assets.
No Government should accept blackmail on matters concerning national security. Backing down on demands from unions, solely for vote bank politics or for sympathetic reasons would be a retrograde step. If the Government could take decisions regarding complex issues like Article 370 and Citizen Amendment Bill (CAB), then it can also take the strong step to privatize these cash guzzling giants and enhance the participation of the private sector.
(The author is Major General (Retd)
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