The Press was under the control of Times Publishing House, a sister company of Bennett, Coleman & Co.Ltd. With the closure of its own Press, about 100 employees including officers have been retrenched on 12-hour notice and they have been rendered jobless. All these employees had been working in the Press for the last over 20 years.

This resulted in the closure of the publication from its own Press. Today’s edition of the Times of India, Patna was published from Prabhat Khabar Press located in Muzaffarpur without Sunday supplement.
This move of the Bennett, Coleman & Co.Ltd is not new. The Times Group has stopped publication of NavBharat Times, a national Hindi daily, published from Patna way back in March 1995 when Assembly election was going on in Bihar. It retrenched over 125 employees, including journalists wothout any notice of even one hour.

When the journalists and non-journalists employees came to office for day's work, they were simply given notice not to come as the publication of Navbharat Times has been stopped from Patna. Apart from rendering journalists and non-journalists jobless, the readers of Bihar were also deprived off a reputed national Hindi daily.

Even today over a dozen cases against Bennett, Coleman & Co.Ltd are pending in labour court and Patna High Court, filed by the state government and retrenched employees.

Today’s (July17) edition of the Times of India was published from Muzaffarpur Press about 70 km from the state headquarters, owned by Prabhat Khabar, a Hindi daily group of Ranchi’s big business house and distributed to the readers much later in the morning.

Now it is told that Patna edition of the Times of India will be published from Prabhat Khabar Press,located in the Pataliputra Indistrial estate in Patna on contract with the Bennett, Coleman & Co.Ltd. The president of the Times of India Karmchari Union and member of the Press Council of India Arun Kumar has strongly criticized the move of the Bennett, Coleman & Co.Ltd management in closing down its Patna Press and retrenching over 100 employees on meagre compensation. He said that Bennett, Coleman & Co.Ltd management must stop such unilateral and vindictive action and start publication from its own Press in Kumhrar, which was set up at the cost of crores of rupees. The resignations surreptitiously taken from many officers of the Press must be withdrawn along with retrenchment of over 100 employees of the Press, which is in the name Times Publication House, owned by Times of India and Bennett, Coleman & Co.Ltd management, Kumar said and added that he has also appealed to the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to stop Times Group management from taking vindictive attitude of and prevail upon the company not to close down the Press.

Arun Kumar also reminded Nitish of his promise of industrialization in Bihar but the anti-labour action of Times Group is depriving direct employment and indirect employment to thousands of people in Bihar.
“This is blatant violation of labour laws by Times Group management”, he lamented and added that if present trend continues the Times Group management one day may reallocate its Patna edition to some other place and people of Bihar will be deprived of good national daily in days to come.

Following this move, journalists and non-journalists employees are now feeling insecure. Ominous signal is there and like in the case of Navbharat Times Bihar will again be deprived of a national daily published from Patna.

Meanwhile, the management sources, who did not wish to be identified told this journalist that adequate compensation have been given to retrenched employees-but they failed to specify the amount.
However, they admitted that Patna edition of Times of india will continue to be published from Prabhat Khabar Press. The move has been taken to contain the extra expenditure on the own Press and it will be published on condtract, they added and said that the publication of the Times of India would continue from Patna.

Moreover, the move of Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd will have adverse impact on the industrial scenario of Bihar. The closure reminded the old shameful action of the Jain-Dalmia group, which is parent organisation of Bennett, Coleman, which in mid-1980s closed down Rohtas Industries in Dalmianagar near Dehri on Sone.Once it was called bigger than Tata Steel in the then united Bihar. Today Rohtas Industries campus has become a graveyard of industrial unit.

(The writer is former Chief Reporter of the Times of India, Patna)

Comment

comments...

Closure of Times Press at Patna is very pathetic decision of the management.In fact Jain family is not interested to continue the print media business.They have closed almost all hindi magzines.Management has no interest for welfare of empolyees, only know to use them maximum.
-Purander Sawarnya