Trade Unions Urge Govt to Release Dues of HEC Employees, Promotions of ISRO Chandrayaan Team

A platform of central trade unions and independent sectoral federations/associations have commended the team of engineers, scientists and communication experts who made Chandrayaan-3 possible for India. 

The undaunted work of the team has opened up myriad possibilities for India to forge ahead in many fields. 

India scripted history on August 23 when ISRO's ambitious third Moon mission, Chandrayaan-3's Lander Module (LM), touched down on the lunar surface, making it only the fourth country to accomplish the feat and the first to reach the uncharted south pole of Earth's only natural satellite.

Since then, heart-rending stories of those who worked selflessly on the ISRO project have continued to emerge. 

"Thousands of Engineers and Workers of Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC), Ranchi, Jharkhand, a public sector undertaking, who have designed and manufactured the mobile launch pad and other important equipments that made Chandrayaan-3 possible, have not been paid for the past 17 months! ISRO scientists and engineers have worked without any promotions," the statement by trade unions notes.  

The statement demands that "the Central Government immediately release the dues of HEC Employees as well as the promotions due to the engineers and scientific cadres at ISRO as well as at other units who played their significant role in this project as India celebrates their contributions." 

In a remarkable achievement for the Indian public sector, the Chandrayaan-3 project's communication was handled exclusively by BSNL, deliberately being strangled by the Central government. 

The project is another feat in the remarkable history of Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) in India. 

"The PSUs in India were established because their products (machinery) had a long gestation period, in which the private sector was not ready to invest. They wanted quick assured profits," the statement notes. 

Before this success, the country witnessed the selfless services of ASHAs and Anganwadi workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite being hailed as "frontline warriors," there has yet to be any significant increase in their monthly honorarium. 

"Will the Prime Minister be truthful to admit that it is the Public Sector that is the backbone of our nation - from bringing up healthy children to exploring outer space? It is the PSUs which have been robbed of thousands of crores of rupees to erect huge statues while starving the PSU employees, getting all priorities wrong."