Maruti declares lockout at Manesar

New Delhi: Three days after more than 90 of its employees were beaten up by rogue workers and a senior manager killed, Maruti Suzuki on Saturday declared a lockout at its Manesar factory, saying it will not resume production at the plant until the safety and health of its staff was guaranteed. However, Maruti made it clear that it had no intention of moving out of Haryana. 

    Maruti chairman R C Bhargava refused to give any timeline for the production of cars starting once again. "What has happened in the Manesar unit is a shocker. We are absolutely convinced that we cannot further risk the life, safety and health of our managers, supervisors and workers," Bhargava said on Saturday. 
    The HR general manager, Awanish Kumar, was beaten and burned alive on Wednesday when the plant was set ablaze after the protesters assaulted the staff with rods and car parts. 
    Expressing concern over the thrashing of the senior staffers, Bhargava said a thorough investigation was required to be conducted by both the company and the Haryana government to ascertain what led the workers to behave in such a violent and merciless manner on Wednesday evening. 
    It is perhaps the first time that Maruti has enforcing a lockout at its factory.Maruti not worried about losses: Bhargava 
New Delhi: Announcing the lockout, Marui chairman R C Bhargava on Saturday called for a complete probe into the reasons that led to Wednesday's violence at the Manesar factory. While there have been production outages earlier, these have not been management-initiated but mainly due to labour strife and worker protests. 
    "We will not endanger the lives of our people any further," Bhargava stressed, in an apparent attempt to put pressure on the Haryana government to hasten the probe into the riot-like protests. 
    Asked how long the company could sustain the estimated Rs 90 crore/day production loss, Bhargava said financial losses were not a concern for the company. "Till we complete the inquiry and ensure the safety and life of our workers, there is no question of resumption of production," he said. 
    The lockout, however,will impact Maruti severely as it manufactures its blockbuster models, Swift hatchback and Dzire sedan, at the Manesar plant. The disruption in the supplies of the models in the market will further add to their already-long waiting list. "We do apologize to customers for whatever is happening, but this situation is not in our hands right now," Bhargava said. 
    Manesar has been the hotbed of labour disputes, and the first major unrest was noticed at Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) way back in 2005. However, Maruti got the taste of it last year when it had to fight three crippling strikes that led to a production loss of over a thousand crore rupees. While it had managed to reach a settlement in late October and even the leaders of the strikers resigned and moved out, Manesar remained tense, leading to the current outburst. 
    Bhargava, however,said there was no plan to move out of Haryana. "This is absolute fiction. There is no possibility of moving or shifting out," he insisted. 
    With Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi visiting Japan from Sunday, there was speculation that Maruti Suzuki might shift the Manesar facility to Gujarat, where it has already announced expansion plans.