Half a century old English Indian Clays in dire straits
Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 20 (IANS) The future of 1,500 families has become uncertain as English Indian Clays (EICL) faces difficulties in its operations, owing to the unavailability of clay and non-clearances from various government departments.
The company says it has been doing its best, and the management representatives were expected to call upon Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to air their grievances.
Set up in the capital city outskirts, the half a century old EICL is finding the going tough due to several reasons.
S. Mahesh, DGM at the EICL, on Thursday said for the last two years they have been facing a shortage of clay, and that resulted in the sudden closure of their production units.
“Though applications were submitted to different departments concerned for permission for mining on July 15, 2019, no action has been taken so far. The EICL informed that under these circumstances the company cannot move forward and is being forced to close operations indefinitely,” said Mahesh.
The management of the EICL closed down two units at different locations here on August 10.
“The company has been running on losses for the past two years. However, considering the hardship of the 1,500 workers and their families, the company has been operating making use of its clay stock,” added Mahesh.
However, with the declaration of the lockdown in the wake of Covid-19 and the resultant grim situation, the company incurred more losses.
EICL mines clay in a non-blasting mode, processes it and value adds to it. The company majorly supplies its clay products to paint, paper, rubber, fibre glass, pharmaceuticals and cement industries.
Moreover, it converts the areas from where the clay is mined into pits for rainwater harvesting to increase the ground water level.
EICL claims it has been implementing social welfare schemes costing Rs one crore in areas near the company.
Even when running at a loss, EICL said it continued to distribute scholarships to students, help fund road construction and provide aid for health centres, for the construction and revival of ‘anganwadis’, drinking water distribution, construction of overhead tanks and setting up high-mast lamps.
EICL said that even when the company did not function during the lockdown, allowances were given to the employees as aid.
“The management has informed the employees that in the heavily loss-making circumstances, it was difficult for the company to go for salary revision and increase allowances and they should understand the constraints of the management in this regard. The management is trying hard to resume functioning by securing various permissions from the government departments,” added Mahesh.
–IANS
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