 Since the government has ignored all our representations and since the conciliation also failed and government took a decision to slice the ordinance practice into seven non-viable corporations we have decided to revive our strike. We took a decision that on the 4th of this month, July we will issue the strike notice and from 36th of July we will go ahead with the strike. The entire workforce of the 41 ordinance factories across the country have declared an indefinite strike from July 26th, 2021. The employees of the ordinance factories, nearly 80,000 employees and the 4 lakh different civilian employees associated with the three recognized federations, All India Defense Employees' Federation, AIDEF, Indian National Defense Workers' Federation, INDWF and the RSS-affiliated Bharat Jaya Pradiraksha Masdursam BPMS, had released a joint statement and rejected the Modi government's decision to corporatize the 246-year-old ordinance factory board OFB and umbrella body that oversees the 41 ordinance factories. As per the cabinet decision, the board will now be converted into seven new defense public sector undertakings DPS. News leak reached out to the employees union to understand the role of the employees behind the legacy of these factories and why they are protesting against the corporatization. C. Sree Kumar, the general secretary of All India Defense Employees' Federation, AIDEF, speaks in this regard. In Tamil Nadu, the chief minister Kamraj who readily gave land for constructing the ordinance factories when the then defense minister V. K. Krishnamayanan, he wanted to establish ordinance factories in Tamil Nadu, especially in Avadi which is near to Chennai. Today three factories are there in Avadi, the suburban of Chennai city, Chennai metropolitan city. The first factory which came was the ordinance clothing factory Avadi. The experience which the Indian army was faced during the Chinese aggression. One of the reason why our army was forced to come back from the China border, acute shortage of winter clothing, winter uniforms were not available to protect our jawans in such a minus temperature. Therefore, it was in the vision of V. K. Krishnamayanan that we require clothing factories which can manufacture all types of battlefields, dresses and uniforms to protect our soldiers, to keep the soldiers in comfort so that we can fight the war. And that is how in 1961 the ordinance clothing factory Avadi was established. It is going to celebrate its diamond duty this year, then followed by the heavy vehicle factory Avadi. A country with a long border of land to fight any battle, tank is the major equipment, tank is the major fighting weapon for that. And that factory came up initially with the Britain technology Vijay in that tank and thereafter with the Soviet Union Russian technology we started manufacturing T-72 tanks and now the advanced version of T-90 tanks. Then our own indigenously developed Bishma tanks, all these tanks are being manufactured in Avadi. Then the youngest factory is the engine factory Avadi which is manufacturing the engines required for the tanks and the infantry compact vehicle which is manufactured at ordinance factory Medak in Killingana state. Similarly, in Tamil Nadu the first ordinance factory was established in 120 years before by the British near Utti Urban Kado, the cottage factory Urban Kado. And then in Tiruchirapalli we have got two important factories, the ordinance factory Trichy which manufacture rifles and the guns. And then the heavy energy factory, heavy alloy penetrator factory that was originally called now it is called the heavy energy projectile factory. So all these modern factories have come up because of the vision of our great national leaders and these factories have played a very vital important role to achieve self reliance and defense to achieve indigenization and defense protection. In OCF Avadi ordinance clothing factory Avadi itself more than 400 workers were working night and day and the lacks of personal protective equipments were manufactured by these factories and they have supplied it to the health ministry of our country which they have distributed all over the country. The government has not learned the lesson even from that. Again in the COVID-19 virus when all the private hospitals have closed down their functioning when they ran away it was the government hospital, it was the government doctor, it was the government nurses, it was the government employees, the railway employees, it is the postal employees, it is the sanitary workers. They all were in the field and they only rescued the country. They only came for the protection of our country. But unfortunately the government because of its policy that public sector should be demolished, government sector should be demolished and when we were all working day and night in the Cargill crisis period 41 factories will be corporatized. They will be listed in the share market that means it will be sold out. 65,000 precious land, 65,000 acres of land in post-area like Kavadi, Javelpur, Pune, Tiruchirapalli, Dehradun, Kardpur, Javelpur, Kolkata, Mumbai, 65,000 acres of land given by whom, given by the poor farmers, given by the state governments and 2 lakh crore worth of assets and property, plant and machinery. On the one side, the defense preparedness is under threat. The national security is under threat by taking this decision to convert the ordinance factories into seven corporations. And on the other side, 76,000 employees, what will happen to their future? Basically, their central government employees recruited under Article 309 of the Indian Constitution. Already government has taken away the pension of the government employees. Out of 76,000 employees today working in the ordinance factories, more than 60,000 is governed by the new pension scheme where there is no guarantee for any pension. As union, as employees, as I have mentioned, I was working in the public sector. I went to serve the nation. So, I applied for a job in the ordinance factory. A very big competition was held all over the country. I applied for that and I was selected on a marriage. I resend from a public sector and joined the government. Now you are converting me to public sector. And in my appointment order, what is an appointment order? Appointment order is a contract between me as an employee and the president of India being the employer. Nowhere it is written in the appointment order that after 20 years, 15 years, I will convert you into a corporation employee. So, it is a violation of the contract of employment and today as a central government employee, I have got a protection under the constitution of the country. My salary is paid from the consolidated fund of India. My pension is paid from the consolidated fund of India. But once I become a corporation, my entire liability goes to the corporation. And the corporation will say, I am not having any load. I am not having work. I don't have any money to pay for you. You go to hell. So, where is my job protection? Where is my salary? What will happen to my pension? What will happen to my future? And that's why I told out of today's 76,000 employees, almost 60,000 are at the age group of 40 and 45. They have all taken loan for different purposes, for purchasing a flat, for purchasing a two-wheeler or four-wheeler, for their children education. Now what will happen to them? Where they will go? So, that is why there are two perceptions as I want to explain. One is, it is going to be a very big challenge and threat to the national security of our country, defense preparedness of our country, self-reliance of our country, indigenization of defense production of our country. On the other side, the 76,000 technically sound, devoted, committed workforce, their future is in state. So, and that is why we are in the struggle. We have taken a decision to go for an indefinite strike during last year, from 12th October 2020. By the time the China border issue came, and the 1 9th October when the conciliation officer, the chief labor commissioner called us, we appeared before him. International interest has patriotic citizens. We took a decision to defer the strike. And government also agreed in that settlement that once we defer the strike, they will also not proceed with the corporatization. But unfortunately, this government is famous for violating all agreements and assurances. We maintained it as a law abiding citizen. We deferred our strike. But then the government went on proceeding with their decision and they have made all the groundwork for converting the factories into corporations. We complained against that to the chief labor commissioner. It's a violation of the agreement. But after all, he's also a bureaucrat. What action he will take against the government? No action has been taken. And second wave of COVID has come again, taking advantage of that situation. Again, on the 11th of June, one conciliation was held. And 15th in our absence, in our absence, another conciliation was held, failure report was given. How the game plan has been planned, you can understand. On 15th of June, the chief labor commissioner is recording a failure report. My conciliation efforts have failed. And within 24 hours, on the 16th, the next day, the cabinet is declaring that the ordinance practice is splintered into seven corporations.