Production not to resume till probe completed, corrective steps taken to ensure no recurrence
Three days after workers injured around 100 officials at its Manesar plant, which claimed the life of a senior HR manager, Maruti Suzuki on Saturday declared a lockout at the plant till a thorough investigation into the causes of the incident is not complete and corrective measures to stop the recurrence of such incidences in future are not put in place. The company also denied any speculation that it is contemplating moving out of Manesar in Haryana to Gujarat.
?There is now a lockout. To me, what is more important is safety of my colleagues than producing some cars to make some money,? Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) chairman RC Bhargava said at a press conference.
In his first interaction with the media after the riotous act by workers on Wednesday evening, Bhargava said the violence had come as a ?shocker? to the company.
?We put much higher value on safety, health and environment than any other aspect of running the factory. Therefore, what has happened is absolutely a shocker for us, so we cannot risk any further damage being done to these people,? he said.
Bhargava said it is absolutely necessary for the company and the Haryana government to jointly and separately conduct a complete investigation into the incident, identify the factors which caused these events, and the causes behind them.
Dismissing all speculation that the company was considering shifting from Manesar, he said, ?Talks of Maruti unit moving out of Manesar is absolute fiction. We are not moving the plant out of Manesar. Maruti is flag-bearer of industrialisation in Haryana.?
With the Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi visiting Japan from Sunday onwards, there was speculation that MSI might shift the Manesar facility to Gujarat where it has already announced expansion plans.
Although Bhargava refused to give any tentative timeline as to when the company might resume production at the plant, company officials said the process might take more than a month?s time. As reported by FE on Saturday, the lockout, which has halted production of the company?s popular models of Swift and DZire, is expected to cause close to R2,600 revenue loss to the company.
Commenting upon the ongoing investigations, Bhargava said, ?The chief minister has put pressure on the investigating agencies. Given how this incident can affect the entire investment in the state, the Haryana government cannot afford a situation where an investor comes and says that since Maruti couldn?t operate so how can we,? Bhargava said.
Bhargava refused to give any opinion over whether the incident, which saw workers use rods and beams to injure the company officials, was premeditated. ?I can?t say anything until our probe is complete,? he said.
When asked whether some workers involved in the incident can be taken back, he said, ?If the guys are no risk they can be taken back; if they are cause of trouble, they cannot come back.?
A Haryana government official said state chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda will soon hold a meeting with Maruti Suzuki MD and CEO Shinzo Nakanishi to address the concerns of the company.
Bhargavaspeak
* To me, what is more important is safety of my colleagues than producing some cars to make some money
* Talks of Maruti unit moving out of Manesar is absolute fiction…. We are not moving the plant out of Manesar. Maruti is the flag-bearer of industrialisation in Haryana
* Maruti is not closed… we will be very inefficient if we take six months. I don?t think we are that bad…we will start at Manesar
