After 18-year wait, payday for appliance company workers

Zadonas 800 employees finally start getting their dues after verdict in favour of union in prolonged court battle but justice comes too late for over 150 who are no more 35 workers remain untraceable The lives of about 800 employees of Zadona Electronics the firm that manufactured the oncefamous Bush transistors and television have hung in the balance for 18 long years as their companys owner financier and union were embroiled in a fierce court battle Earlier this year the court finally gave its verdict in favour of the union The rundown premises of Zadona Electronics in Wagale Estate Thane which was closed down in 1993u00a0But before one can say alls well that ends well and exult for the underdogs heres a sobering thought over 150 of the employees who would have reaped the benefits of the legal victory have died succumbed to grinding penury or acute depression stemming from their protracted unemployment Thirtyfive of the employees cannot be tracedAnd tragically a 64yearold employee of the company died a day after receiving the bounty that he had pinned his hopes on for almost a decade Zadona was once recognised as a topoftheline manufacturer of television sets transistors and tape recorders It was flagged off in the year 1963 at Wagle Estate in Thane with 2000 workers on its rolls Promising beginningsAccording to J R Rocha the companys chairman and managing director the market for transistors was booming during the IndoPak war in 1971 when almost everybody relied on the contraptions for hourly updates on the proceedings of the war Family members of many of the companys employees accompanied them to the Bank of India in Fort to help them collect their pending salariesThe company produced over 10 lakh transistors its 2000 loyal employees working round the clock to meet the high demand However in 1993 the company began to suffer heavy losses due to a sudden slump in demand high salaries and steep octroi rates In June that year recurring losses forced the factory to shut down To add injury to the lamentable fiscal circumstances the company was mired neckdeep in debt having taken a loan of about Rs 2 crore from various overseas banks in 1963The company was forced to pull down its shutters in May 1993 leaving its 800 employees teetering on the edge of an abyss of uncertaintyBattle beginsLeft in the lurch the employees organised themselves into a majdoor union the Adarsh Kamgar Sabha and filed a case against Rocha in the high court The court appointed a receiver for the case in April 1994 and thus began a longdrawnout process of litigation In April 2011 the court pronounced its verdict in favour of the workers following which Rocha sold off the 11 acres of the companys land for a sum of Rs 871000000u00a0On December 17 the court receiver began distributing the longpending salaries among the employees Of the 800 that had formed the union only 450 employees have received their dues We are finding it difficult to trace the employees after 18 years Around 150 of them died while they were still waiting for their pending dues Thirtyfive are not traceable said Harish K Amin general secretary Adarsh Kamgar Sabha the companys unionFatal joyAnd dropping a pall of sorrow over the courts positive verdict Bhagwan Gandhi a 64yearold employee who was living in Pune and came to Mumbai to collect his cheque last week was found dead at his sisters Bandra residence where he had put upHe was overjoyed with the verdict He kept reminiscing about his service in the company all night A day later he was found dead said Amin After 18 years my workers are getting their salary this is a great moment for me I wish them all a Happy New Year I am thankful to Harish Amin and the court receiver too said RochaWorkers speakAt this age I have received Rs 304000 I cannot explain how it feels I am very thankful to Amin and Rocha I feel overjoyed I will keep the amount in a safe deposit I have enough for the rest of my life said 70yearold Shantaram Surve a resident of BhandupI had lost all hope I will be thankful to Amin and Rocha till the day I die I will give some of the money to my children and wife I will fix the remaining balance in a bank I can die in peace said 56yearold Dayal Idasani a resident of KalyanI had lost hope It was possible only because of Rocha and the honourable court I am speechless with happiness My workers are getting their cheques at last said Amin who had joined the company when he was 18 years old