Jharkhand: Over 1,000 HEC Employees Stage Protest, Demand Salary Clearance and PSU Revival

New Delhi: In a fervent display of frustration and urgency, over a thousand employees of the beleaguered Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC) Limited gathered near the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state headquarters at Harmu Road in Ranchi today, demanding immediate action from the Centre to address their mounting concerns.

According to a report published in The Telegraph, under the banner of the HEC Bachao Majdoor Jan Sangarsh Samity, workers and officials of HEC convened their protest around 11 a.m., steadfastly raising their voices and refusing to disperse until 1.30 p.m. Their demands centred on the clearance of pending salaries and the revival of the Public Sector Undertaking (PSU).

"We had informed the BJP leaders about our protest. But no senior official was present at the office, and we had to return by submitting our memorandum to a gatekeeper at the office," lamented HEC Majdoor Union chief Bhawan Singh, underscoring the sense of neglect felt by the protesting employees.

Expressing their disappointment with the lack of attention from political representatives, Singh emphasised the urgency of their plight: "We want the BJP MPs of the state to raise our issue with the Centre so that our pending salaries are cleared and the company is revived."

Singh also issued a stark warning, indicating the extent of their resolve: "The secretariat and the MLAs’ quarters are located on HEC land. If they (BJP MLAs) fail to raise our issues with the Centre, then we will have no option but to agitate before the MLA houses and lock it from outside. We are not afraid of police action."

The memorandum submitted at the BJP office underscored the pivotal role HEC has played in various national projects, including Chandrayaan-3 and the Aditya L1 solar project of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It highlighted HEC's contributions, including the construction of the launchpad for the Aditya project, as well as its involvement in setting up SAIL's units in Bhilai, Rourkela, Bokaro, and Salem.