The SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry, on Wednesday, said the labour unrest and subsequent violence at Maruti Suzuki’s Manesar plant would dent India’s image as a manufacturing base and safe destination for investment.
Condemning the recent incidents of violence at the Manesar unit of Maruti Suzuki, chamber President Vikramjit Singh Sahney said it was unfortunate that such unprecedented levels of violence took place. The differences between the management and workers should be resolved in a peaceful manner, he added.
“Acts of violence, besides physically shedding blood and shutdowns, damage the image of India as a manufacturing base and as a safe investment destination, especially in view of the economic slowdown. Everyone has to join hands to ensure that such incidents are not repeated in future. We have to chart out a course to maintain cordial industrial relations and also ensure that nobody takes law into his hand,’’ he said.
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Mr. Sahney stressed the need to handle the delicate situation in an appropriate manner and called for taking preventive measures by all concerned to send the right signal to the investors globally.
Employer’s Federation of India Secretary-General Sharad Patil, too, said that there was an urgent need to create a charter on employee relations through an eco-system comprising employers, employees, trade unions, government and civil society to ensure a violence-free workplace.
Our Kolkata correspondent writes:
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The guilty at Manesar should be booked under criminal law and not under the Industrial Disputes Act since this appears to be a pre-planned act of violence and not a genuine industrial relations problem.
Stating this the President of the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Harsh Jha, said that the chamber strongly condemns the industrial violence at the Manesar Plant of Maruti Suzuki.
Such instances of violence at the workplace cannot be tolerated as it ruins the work culture and takes away from the attractiveness of India as an investment destination.
He said that the chamber firmly believed that any differences of opinion should be resolved amicably through discussion between all stake holders and violence was to be abhorred at any cost.