UCIL adjusts 700 Jadugora mine employees in other units

JAMSHEDPUR: Public sector UCIL has adjusted around 700 employees of its oldest Jadugora mine in other mines and processing units temporarily since Monday last as the production activities in the mine came to a grinding halt following a government directive over a month ago.

"It is neither possible for Uranium Corporation of India Ltd (UCIL) to give salaries to its 1,000 employees without production activities nor do we have any intention to terminate them," its Chairman-cum-Managing Director Diwakar Archarya told reporters here.

"We have been maintaining the employer-employee cordial relationship despite all mining activities in high-grade Jadugora uranium mine came to a total halt 37 days ago but it is not possible for us to give them salary for unlimited time period without production starts taking place again.

"We have decided to adjust 700 of the total 1,000 employees in Narwa and Bagjata uranium mines and Jadugora processing plant temporarily as we do not have any intention to terminate their jobs," Acharya said.

The permanent vacancies in these mines would never be fulfilled by the employees of Jadugora mine, where around 300 employees have been retained for maintenance work, he said.