Petrofils workers face an uncertain future

Several of their friends are not appearing for the school examinations currently underway.

And quite a few of their fathers8217; colleagues, who once earned around Rs 5,000 a month, have taken to driving auto-rickshaws or selling vegetables.

When a company goes into the red, the greatest impact is perhaps absorbed by the workers8217; families. Uncertainty is now the most consistent factor in the lives of the 2,100 employees of Petrofils Cooperative Limited 8212; the country8217;s only cooperative in the synthetic yarn sector, as the Centre is yet to take a decision on its revival.

8220;Who will give us 50-year-olds any work?8221; questions senior analyst Janardhan Singh. He has had to curb the one indulgence his family enjoyed: non-vegetarian food once a week. 8220;But even this measure saves just Rs 400 a month8221;, he grimaces.

Sakuben Shinora8217;s husband used to earn around Rs 5,000 a month, but is now vending vegetables. 8220;At least it gets him Rs 20-25 a day8221;, she says with tears in her eyes. 8220;Now there are about five people eking a living like this, but if something doesn8217;t happen soon, there could be many more8221;.

Many operators, driven to equally dire straits, are driving auto-rickshaws for a livelihood, says Trupti Trivedi, a home-maker. Hemlata Pandya, wife of the Petrofils8217; personnel manager, says her family, too, is facing an funds crunch.

The Shinora children, along with several others, cannot appear for their examinations as they haven8217;t been able to pay their school fees. 8220;Teachers have actually sent our children back from school because they couldn8217;t pay the fees8221;, says Nisha Shitole.

Residents do not have money to replace LPG cylinders. 8220;If we cut trees for wood to cook food, the management objects,8221; says Shanta Dhanji Gohil, a housewife.

Points out union general secretary Jayant Patwardhan, 8220;Only those who8217;ve been working for some time have savings.8221; Agrees senior officer marketing Atul Vaish, 8220;Not everyone can bank on their savings8221;.

Restrictions, denials are finding new expressions everyday. Five-year-old Nirmala8217;s milk ration has been halved; Bisuben Rana, whose husband was an operator with Petrofils, has stopped buying fruits and sarees. And if everyone has a common grouse, it8217;s that the grocer at the 200-house Petrofils Nagar refuses to give them credit. But, says Mukund Ganatra of Swagat Provision Store, 8220;The debts had mounted to nearly Rs 1 lakh8221;.

Almost every regular tradesman has suffered the domino effect of the Petrofils crisis. Suresh Patel, a cloth merchant, claims the Petrofils employees owes him nearly Rs 1.25 lakhs; A K Sharma, a milk-shop owner, says his sales have dropped almost by half.

8220;We don8217;t know what we8217;ll do if the company closes down8221;, says Hardi Vyas. 8220;Last month we at least managed to pay the electricity bills with the Society Trust money; next month I don8217;t know what8217;ll happen.8221;

Set up in 1974 to safeguard the interest of weavers, Petrofils8217; fortunes took a downturn in 1990-91 with the entry of private companies into the sector. Even the establishment of another plant at Naldhari failed to check the debts.

In this scenario, a point of no return was perhaps predictable. But it is only over the past year that salaries have been irregular; no salaries were paid out at all for November and December, 1998. Non-payment of electricity bills of nearly Rs 17 crores triggered a power disconnection at the Vadodara and Naldhari plants.

Though a management-appointed private firm has proposed a revival package, no decision has been taken on it. In-charge chairman and managing director Chinnmay Bhattacharya says it8217;ll be some time before a final decision is taken.

8220;Only on Wednesday, a representation was made for the salaries8221;, Bhattacharya says, adding that over the past few years, the total outstanding dues against the company had touched Rs 600 crores.

8220;The firm has had no working capital for the past two years8221;, Bhattacharya says, adding that Petrofils also needed to be brought out of the Co-operative Society8217;s purview to allow funds to be raised through public issues. 8220;We have also sought financial assistance for starting the plants,8221; he says.