March 09, 2008	Sunday	Safar 30, 1429

HYDERABAD, March 8: Glass Bangle Industry Workers Union President Shamshad Baig has said that majority of the bangle industry workers are neither issued appointment letters nor attendance cards as a result of which they are denied health cover under the social security scheme.

Speaking at a news conference at the press club here on Thursday, he said that the workers were also being deprived of facilities admissible under the labour laws.He refuted the allegations of the bangle workers action committee at a press conference on Wednesday against the Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry president and bangle factory owners.

He said the press conference by the action committee was held against the factory owners and HCCI president at the instigation of the labour department officials.

He claimed that in fact the HCCI president was working in the interest of the bangle industry workers.

He demanded of the officials to get rid of such labour leaders as bangle industry was already facing crisis and 25 units had already been closed.

Answering a question about his locus standi, Shamshad Baig said that he was not associated with bangle industry, which he had left as far back as 1988, but was still the president of workers union.

Meanwhile, the general secretary of Hyderabad Bangle Industry Mazdoor Ittehad, Siraj Gaddi, in a statement has said that thousands of bangle industry workers had been denied

all facilities under the labour laws.

More than 95 per cent of workers were neither issued appointment letters nor attendance cards as a result of which they were deprived of medical facilities under the social security scheme, he said.

Gaddi said that the glass bangle workers were also deprived of annual, casual and festival leaves and as no record of their employment was kept by the factory owners, therefore, they did not receive any grant or group insurance facilities.

He regretted that despite these excesses, Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry was supporting the factory owners.