Harried workers of edible oil processing company Cargill India demonstrated stir in unique way by laying prostrate in front of the Paradip police station with the plea to lift prohibitory orders under Section 144 and allow them to stage dharna in front of the company gate on Monday.
The administration had imposed 144 near the company and restrained workers after they had launched a dharna near the gate since 5 April.
The activists of Sangh led by their vice president Nandalal Singh met Paradip additional district magistrate Kanhu Charan Dhir to allowing them to demonstrate peacefully in a democratic way but Mr Dhir clarified that prohibitory order under section 144 CrPC has been clamped at Cargill company site as per the suggestion of local police so he advised the agitators to obtain permission from Paradip police to allow them for demonstration to fulfill their demands.
Being harried, nearly 152 workers demonstrated stir in front of Paradip police station by laying prostrate and pleading to lift prohibitory orders. The edible oil processing company Cargill India, established here since 2004 was marketing brands such as Sweekar, Nature Fresh and Gemini.
It imports crude palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia and refines it here. The refined oil business ran in to rough weather as the cost of production was high and not competitive due to high power cost.
The company shut down its cooking oil refinery plant in 2016 rendering 152 workers jobless. Cargil company sold its factory to Adani Wilmar Ltd, known for its Fortune brand of vegetable oils recently but there was no agreement on the fate of the workers. The workers have since been demanding jobs at the plant.