Kanpur: Employees of Kanpur’s Ordnance Equipment Factory (OEF) observed Corporation Virodh Diwas on Oct 1, boycotting Corporation Day and demanding withdrawal of the Centre’s decision to corporatise ordnance factories.Responding to a nationwide call by the United Forum of Ordnance Employees (UFOE), employees gathered at the main gate of OEF, wore black bands and staged a protest against corporatisation. Representatives of OEF Mazdoor Sangh, H&S Factory Employees Union and CDRA participated in the demonstration.Bharatiya Pratiraksha Mazdoor Sangh joint minister and UFOE coordinator Yogendra Singh Chauhan said employees had been boycotting Corporation Day celebrations since ordnance factories were corporatised.Following a circular issued by the federations, employees at all 41 ordnance factories across the country boycotted the event, he said.Chauhan demanded that the factories be restored to their status as fully government-run organisations and that the corporatisation decision be withdrawn.Employee leaders said the govt’s decision to allow workers to retain their govt employee status until retirement had provided some relief. They also demanded nomination-based allocation of regular production targets to all seven defence public sector undertakings formed after the restructuring of ordnance factories.They said such a move would secure employees’ future and help ensure uninterrupted supplies of equipment to the Indian armed forces during emergencies.
