AIRING THEIR GRIEVANCES: Members of the NGEF Employees' Union staging a protest in Bangalore on Monday. — Photo: K. Murali Kumar

BANGALORE: Deprived of salary and other benefits for the past four years, the families of the 122 employees of the now closed New Government Electric Factory (NGEF) are struggling to eke out a living.

Seven of these employees died after NGEF was closed in December 2002.

The families of these seven employees are in a pitiable state as they have no source of income.

The other employees are in debts, the NGEF Employees' Union general secretary M. Siddaramaiah told The Hindu on Monday.

The NGEF employees on Monday staged a dharna in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue on Mahatma Gandhi Road here to bring their problems to the notice of the State Government.

The union urged the Government to revive the closed public sector undertaking and pay salary and other monetary benefits due to the 122 employees who were dismissed from service on December 20, 2002, for refusing to take voluntary retirement.

As the Suvarna Karnataka Rajyotsava gift, the Government should ensure that the pending salaries and other benefits are disbursed to the workers before November-end.

There are enough funds in the NGEF account to pay the salaries due to these employees, Mr. Siddaramaiah said.

The State Government has submitted to the Karnataka High Court a proposal to revive the NGEF.

The Government should take necessary measures to revive the factory at the earliest.

"The Government should ensure that there are no more legal hurdles in reviving the unit," he said.

Later, the union leaders submitted a memorandum in this regard to a senior official in the Chief Minister's office.

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