J&K Cements Limited, once a profit making public sector undertaking is facing a whopping Rs 300 crore liability; its operation are closed for last one year and its employees without salary for 16 months.
According to JKCL officials, the factory is shut since June last year and liabilities have mounted to Rs 300 crore. “However we are hopeful to revive the factory as the government has sanctioned Rs 28 crore,” Managing Director, JKCL, Iftikhar Drabu, said.
He said that the amount is likely to be released within this month and “it will include two months’ salary and working capital from resumption of activities”.
Meanwhile, a senior Industries Department official on condition of anonymity said that the prestigious unit had become the victim of “mismanagement fuelled by politicians who for their petty gains had time and again used this unit”.
“Once, this unit had a monopoly over government works. But the situation later came to such a pass that it could not supply the cement,” he said.
He said that there is no dearth of market for the cement, “but what this PSU is lacking is the working capital.”
The employees of the JK cements are worst hit as they are without salaries for the last 16 months. “We have knocked every door in the administration yet there is no redressal of our grievances,” said JKCL employees’ union president, Abdul Majeed.
He said there are presently over 650 employees on the rolls of JK Cements. “Apart from salaries, even retired employees have been denied their retiral benefits.”
JKCL was incorporated as a fully owned government company in December 1974 with the objective to make the quality cement available to the consumers at reasonable rates, besides filling up the gap between demand and supply.
The cement plant of 600 tonnes per day capacity installed at Khrew is listed as heavy sector industry which started commercial production in April 1982. The company is manufacturing OPC garage 43 and has obtained license for manufacturing Fly Ash based blended cement from Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
The JKCL is providing employment to more than 650 semi-skilled, skilled, specialised and super specialized people directly or indirectly. In addition to this, the company in the sale promotion of its product has engaged a good number of distributors and sub-distributors.