Maruti to scale up safety measures at Manesar plant

New Delhi: Hit by worst ever violence in its history, the country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki on Friday said it is considering to deploy advanced safety measures for its employees at the Manesar plant.

The company, which has declared a lockout after the July 18 violence in which a senior executive was killed, said it is still concerned about the safety of its employees despite arrests of union leaders of the Manesar unit and the production shut down will continue.

"Giving high priority to employee safety, the company is considering initiatives to scale up safety in the Manesar plant," Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) said in a statement.

In this direction, the company is exploring the best safety measures in terms of equipment, personnel and on-ground training for its employees, it added.

After the violence on July 18, the Manesar plant is currently being guarded by the Haryana police with few hundred policemen stationed inside the complex. Following the violence and arson, MSI had on July 21 announced a lockout at the unit.

"The company continues to be concerned about the safety and security of its people, hence not in a position to take a decision on resuming operations at the Manesar plant," the statement said.

MSI further said it will announce its decision to reopen the plant only when it is assured of employee safety. On Thursday, MSI's Japanese parent Suzuki Motor Corp (SMC) had said the Manesar unit is in a condition to resume operations but would not do so as safety was yet to be restored.

SMC had earlier said a mob of approximately 100 workers damaged "the buildings of the plant office and the security office" but "there is no heavy damage to the plant facilities".

MSI claimed that nearly 100 others employees were injured in the violence, but SMC on its website had said "41 people were hospitalised and 46 people were treated in the hospital".

Earlier, the Haryana government had set up a special investigation team, headed by Assistant Commissioner of Police Ravinder Tomar, to probe the incident.

The state government had also appointed eminent criminal advocate KTS Tulsi as a special public prosecutor for the case.