Harish Rao appeals Union govt to shelve Ordnance Factory, Medak privatization plans

To this effect, the Finance Minister on Saturday wrote a letter to Union Defense Minister Rajnath Singh.

Hyderabad: Telangana Finance Minister T Harish Rao appealed to the Union government to shelve the plans to privatize of Ordnance Factory, Medak and upgrade the factory machinery, besides initiating measures to enhance the skills of the manpower.

To this effect, the Finance Minister on Saturday wrote a letter to Union Defense Minister Rajnath Singh.

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Citing the representation submitted by Ayudha Karmagara Telangana Udyogula Samakya to him, the Finance Minister said sufficient workload was available for the financial year 2022-23 to the Ordnance Factory, Medak. It had also achieved the target of Rs.930 crore within the March 31, 2023 to the satisfaction of the customers.

The Ordnance Factory, Medak was prepared to achieve any target, if sufficient workload was provided. Unfortunately, there was no sufficient workload for the 2023-24 and there was a threat of declaring the sole Ordnance Factory in Telangana as sick industry in the coming years, he said.

“The plans to declare the Ordnance Factory, Medak as sick unit will impact the lives of 2500 direct employees and about 5000 indirect beneficiaries. This apart, nearly 25,000 individuals future will be pushed into dark,” Harish Rao said in the letter.

In the representation submitted to the Finance Minister, the Ordnance Factory employees had urged to intervene against the Union Government’s unilateral decision to privatize the Ordnance Factory under the self reliance in defense production.

Considering the appeals made by the employees, the Finance Minister urged Union Defense Minister to roll back the decision to corporatise or privatize the Ordnance factories, strengthen research and development organization, upgrade the machinery at the factory and initiate measures for enhancing the skills of manpower, simplify the purchase and administrative procedures, ensure sufficient workload to increase the productivity and ensure the service of employees in government as was done in Prasara Bharathi.