Comments
The collateral damage following the ban on popular instant noodles brand Maggi, which food safety regulator FSSAI has declared “unfit” for consumption, is not just impacting suppliers, but an estimated 1,500 workers, as well.
These workers are mainly involved in manufacturing Maggi noodles across Nestle India’s plants.
In the company’s Moga plant, Satish Srinivasan, Factory Manager at the plant, said: “About 115 workers involved in the production of Maggi noodles have now been engaged in the production of other company products. And in plants where only Maggi noodles were being made, the workers are being trained in other team-building activities.”
However, workers, especially temporary ones, in companies that are suppliers to Nestle India are the worst hit.
Moga-based Paras Spices Pvt Ltd, the largest supplier of spices to Nestle India, has already asked nearly 200 temporary employees not to report to work, or report twice or thrice in a week, following the ban.
Paras Budhiraja, Director at the company, said supplies to Nestle India contribute nearly 45 per cent to overall business. “We are now talking to new clients and getting them on board. Since we follow strict quality standards, we believe we have strong potential to step up our exports,” he added.
The company supplied about 200 tonnes of spices every month to Nestle India across various locations.
Nestle India, which said it is in the process of withdrawing Maggi noodles stock of about 27,420 tonnes, worth ₹320 crore, has been working on recalling and destroying this stock. The company expects the exercise to be completed within 40-45 days (of the ban being announced).
The company has since moved the Bombay High Court challenging the food safety regulator’s order and will have its next hearing at the end of this month.
Meanwhile, according to reports, a contract worker at Nestle India’s Rudrapur plant in Uttarakhand allegedly committed suicide 13 days after the State High Court banned sale and production of Maggi noodles. He was among the 1,100 contract workers at the plant who were reportedly laid off recently, one report said.
(The writer was in Moga at the invitation of Nestle India)
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.