GDDC managing director G.K. Makwana, reacting to a report, clarified that lockout had not been declared at any of the five dairies. But employees say the decision to withdraw muster books was ``worse than a lockout, rendering about 1,600 employees jobless''.

Natubhai Patel, who is leading the workers said, ``Managements are to give at least a week's notice to unions before declaring lockout. But in this case, the managing director just wrote to the dairy managers on August 2 asking them to withdraw the muster rolls and ask employees to retire prematurely. Is this not worse than a lockout?''

The staff has also been asked to leave Gujarat Dairy Development Corporation's head office in Sector 16 of Gandhinagar.

Patel, who is vice-president of the Gujarat Rajya Dairy Karmachari Sabha, also charged the managing director with misleading the press and the public on the voluntary retirement schemes (VRS) offered by the government.

Patel said, ``His is misleading employees by claiming that most of them have filled forms under the VRS, and that 250 of them have already accepted cheques.''

Patel said that in fact the employees who had accepted the cheques had been serving Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation before Abad Dairy was taken over by Gujarat Dairy Development Corporation from AMC. ``They have nothing to do with our union.''

The Abad Dairy management had relieved from services over 700 employees after they accepted VRS way back in 1994. GDDC had taken over Abad Dairy from AMC in 1979, when it was running up huge losses.

Sticking to their guns, GDDC employees on the warpath said they would not accept the VRS cheques the GDDC is scheduled to disburse on Tuesday. ``Though 90 per cent of the agitating employees have filled up forms under VRS, 80 per cent of them have already withdrawn the forms in protest,'' Patel said, contending that employees were being forced to accept Rs 50,000 to Rs 1.50 lakh less under the ``arbitrary package''.

Accusing the government of double standards, union leaders said that if employees of the closed-down Gujarat Communication & Electronics Ltd (GCEL) and Gujarat Construction Corporation (GCC) could be absorbed in its various departments, why couldn't those of the dairies.

Additional chief secretary (finance) K.V. Bhanujan told Express Newsline that the government would have to entail an additional burden of over Rs 40 crore if it provided benefits to Gujarat Dairy Development Corporation employees.

He said, ``It is not possible to concede Sabha leaders' demand for giving arrears to GDDC staff from the date of implementation of the Fifth Pay Commission recommendations in the state.''

Bhanujan asked, ``From where will the government spare Rs 50 crore, including Rs 40 crore towards retrenchment and Rs 10 crore towards arrears?''

He said the government would have to go for total closure of Gujarat Dairy Development Corporation under the Industrial Disputes Act if the employees refused to accept the package offered.

``Even otherwise, we have already served notices to the GDDC employees terminating their services, since the government has already suffered a loss of Rs 80 crore to prop up the corporation,'' he added.