Tension mounts at Maruti plant

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, OCT 19. Tension mounted today at the strike-hit Maruti Udyog plant in Gurgaon following the death of two workmen over the past two days.

The issue of payment of incentive has been pushed to the background with the deaths. The management said the union was trying to ``fuel the sentiments of the workers to sustain its campaign which was losing steam. The tactics of the union to use a natural death to fuel a dying agitation amounts to cynical manipulation.'' At a news conference, the company managing director, Mr. Jagdish Khattar, claimed that the strike was petering out and production had climbed to over 700 vehicles per day. Maruti normally produced up to 1,200 vehicles a day.

The unions, however, claimed that workers were being confined in the factory to show that some machines were running. One of them, Mr. Chander Bhan, was a heart patient and could not stand the stress. The other, a 20-year-old apprentice, whose body was found adjacent to railway track, could have died due to excesses by the police camping inside the factory, the union leaders alleged.

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Section  : National
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