There seems to be no prospect of re-opening of Chittivalasa jute mill near Tagarapuvalasa in Visakhapatnam district under lockout for nearly two years in the near future and yet another meeting is scheduled before the month-end, according to Mr K. Varahala Raju, President of the recognised Chittivalasa Jute Mill Workers' Union. The mill is one of the oldest and major composite jute mills in the State, employing nearly 6,000 workers and with a capacity of 100-tonnes a day.

Mr Raju said here on Sunday that the Kolkata-based mill management had declared lockout on April 20, 2009, unilaterally and illegally citing power problems. “Since then, many rounds of talks have been held and many attempts have been made, but the management is not being reasonable,” he said. He said the Andhra Pradesh Government had declared the lockout illegal and directed the mill management to re-open the mill, but management had moved the Andhra Pradesh High Court and obtained a stay order. “We got the stay order vacated and the issue went to the labour court. We expect an order this week,” he said.

The mill owners — Mr K.K. Bajoria and Mr Anudeep Bajoria — were not interested in operating the mill and they were coming up with ridiculous conditions for re-opening of the mill, he said. They were subjecting the workers to hardship and behaving in an irresponsible manner. “There is no one there at the mill, not a single representative of the management. They have simply abandoned the mill,” he added.

He said the recognised union, affiliated to the INTUC, was making all possible efforts to bring the management to the negotiating table and get the mill re-opened. The Congress party had made a promise in 2009 elections to get the mill re-opened.

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