No work, no pay, and no dues either from Business India
SMEETA MISHRA PANDEY

NEW DELHI, FEB 1: It's just another day in the life of 100-odd staffers of the now-defunct Business India TV, better known as TVI. Since the company declared a lock-out on June 22, 1999, they come in the morning, hang around the Masjid Moth office in New Delhi, sip tea in the roadside shops, and indulge in some slogan-shouting, demanding they be paid their dues. Of course, the head office in Mumbai chooses to ignore their existence.

In response to a questionnaire faxed to Ashok Advani, Business India Senior Manager (P&A) Paresh Pandharkame categorically states that ``there are currently no employees outside the Business India office.'' (See photo.)Most employees say they're at the end of their tether. With no work and no pay for the last six months, the least they expect now is that the management squares the account. Says TVI Senior Assistant Producer Iqbal Rizvi: ``We are no longer bothered whether Ashok Advani re-opens the company or not. Our only demand is that we be paid our dues.''

The employeesmaintain the Labour Commission has ``counselled the management to take back all the employees while directing that all pending salaries be cleared. But the management has refused to allow all the employees to resume duty and has flouted the written agreement to pay the employees their earned wages.''

The Mumbai head office, however, maintains a completely different stand. ``The bulk of the employees have been paid their salaries up to December 99,'' says senior manager Pandharkame. ``However, TVI operations have been suspended and the bulk of the staff has already left the company. The 100-odd staffers you refer to were last paid on January 2000.''

But the list of allegations that the employees have against the management is long. An appeal circulated by the employees reads: `The management has failed to deposit the ESI contribution for the last two years, depriving the employees of medical care. Five persons, including two employees, died because they were turned away by ESI hospitals and they had nomoney for private treatment.'

Pandharkame denies this allegation: ``It is not correct that ESI has not been paid for two years; there was an arrear of only a few months.'' The employees don't buy that. Says TVI Principal Correspondent Prashant Tandon: ``It's sad but the management has brought me to such a state where I have to borrow money to buy food. I have more than 10 years' experience in the field but it does not seem enough. The roadside has become my imaginary office. As the office telephones have been disconnected, I receive calls at the adjoining juice shop.''

The staffers blame the management for creating conditions that led to the closure of TVI. ``The management made all the wrong decisions,'' says TVI writer Amita Bedi. ``They chose a satellite that did not have a footprint in India, failed to get distribution channels, failed to woo cable operators and get advertising support leading to a delay in payment of salaries. The viewership was poor, hence the TRP ratings became insignificant.'' TVIstarted off in 1996 as the first indigenous news and current affairs channel in the country.

The Mumbai office maintains that the ``total debt for TVI does not exceed Rs 50 crore and that all other companies in the Business India group are healthy and don't have significant debts.'' Now, the agitating employees are all set to demonstrate against the management at the Business India mega-show in Chandigarh to be held in March. They are even planning to launch a webste that will ``expose'' the management.

Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.