Around 1100 employees of Hindustan Antibiotics, Pimpri, which was started in 1955 at the initiative of India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, have decided not to vote in Maharashtra assembly elections as they have been denied their salaries for the past 10 months. The employees have decided to protest in front of candidates and leaders who come to seek votes. The employees, who have launched a "Save HA campaign" said they have been hard-pressed for survival as the company is struggling to pay their salaries. "The production has come to a standstill. The company has no working capital. The central government is not releasing the Rs 500 crore revival package. Nobody is taking up for case seriously," said Sunil Pataskar, general secretary of the Hindustan Mazdoor Sangh. "In view of the complete apathy of the central government, Ministry of Chemical and Fertilisers and leaders of various political parties, we have decided to not vote in this assembly elections in a bid to draw attention to our plight," Pataskar said, adding that the employees along with their families number 5000 and are spread in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad. "The question is why should we vote ? Should we vote because we are not been paid salaries ? Should we vote because the company has been left to die ?," he asked. When contacted, HA personnel manager T Das conceded that the company has struggled to pay salaries to the employees as it has no funds to do so. "We do not have even have the working capital. Our dues like PF, sales tax and income tax have gone beyond Rs 100 crore," he said. Sources in the company said Rs 8 crore which were recently received for upgradation of machinery was used for paying the pending salaries of the employees. "Whenenever some amount has been received for the upgradation of projects, the company has used the amount to pay to the employees whose families would otherwise have to beg for survival," company sources said. Pataskar said the HA Mazdoor Sangh has met Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitely who has promised to do something" to revive the company. "We hope something will be done quickly, otherwise the company will have to shut down leaving 1,100 in jeopardy," he said. Hindustan Antibiotics Ltd, Pimpri, was the first penicillin unit set up in the country at the insistence of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. The foundation stone for Hindustan Antibiotics, which finds a mention in school textbooks in Maharashtra as the country's first penicillin factory, was laid by India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1956. The newly-elected Shiv Sena MP Shrirang Barne heads the Mazdoor Sangh. Earlier, Supriya Sule was heading the Sangh and before her, Sharad Pawar was the president.
