COIMBATORE: Trade unions have urged the Centre to reopen at least 12 modernized mills of the National Textile Corporation (NTC) across the country, shut for nearly six years, as around 2,000 permanent workers in Tamil Nadu — including around 1,500 in Coimbatore — face joblessness and unpaid wages, pushing families into acute financial distress.HMS state executive president T S Rajamani said Tamil Nadu has seven NTC mills, of which five are located in Coimbatore city — Coimbatore Murugan Mills, Cambodia Mills, Coimbatore Spinning & Weaving Mills (CSW Mills), Sri Rangavilas Mills and Pioneer Mills. These units employed roughly 1,500 permanent workers before operations were halted in May 2020 amid the Covid-19 outbreak.According to unions, workers were paid only half wages from the closure period until 2024. From June 2025, even the reduced payment stopped, and salaries have not been disbursed for about a year. The wage freeze has also hit essential service staffers who continue to report for duty. They have allegedly not been paid for the last 10 months.Rajamani said the mills have a long history and were taken over in 1974 to protect workers and keep operations viable. He argued that shutting down the units defeats the purpose of the takeover and called on the Centre to restart production in modernized mills based on workers’ willingness to return to work.“Out of the 123 mills established initially, only 23 are currently operational nationwide, and 12 of them have been modernized. Trade unions have repeatedly urged the govt to reopen the remaining NTC mills, while the Union textile ministry has considered the continued operation of the modernized units” Rajamani said.Beyond the permanent workforce, around 2,000 contract workers had been engaged over the past decade even as the mills remained shut. Many long-serving workers had been forced into alternative jobs under severe mental stress and insecurity, unions said.CITU district secretary C Padmanaban alleged that machinery in modernized “composite” mills capable of both spinning and weaving has deteriorated during the prolonged shutdown, resulting in wastage of public funds. He said workers had been denied not only wages but also other statutory and service benefits.Unions have demanded that the Centre either ensure that the mills are not closed and resume operations at the earliest, or, if closure is unavoidable, provide legally due closure compensation to workers. They plan to meet the Union ministry concerned to press for a time-bound decision on reopening and payment of arrears.
