Jharkhand Congress executive president and member of the Jharkhand state coordination committee, Bandhu Tirkey, has asked the Centre to make efforts in revival of ailing Ranchi-based PSU Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC).

“It is certainly a proud moment for the country for the successful launch of Chandrayaan-3, India’s third lunar exploration mission. But the Prime Minister and the central government should also pay attention to the revival of the HEC which played a crucial role in Chandrayaan-3,” said the three-time former Mandar MLA Bandhu Tirkey.

The spacecraft lifted off successfully from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota as per scheduled launch time on Friday.

“Metallurgical and Engineering Consultants India (MECON) Limited had designed the launching pad of Chandrayaan-3, while HEC constructed the launching pad. Unfortunately, not much attention is paid by the Union government to either of the two PSUs. I have come to know that even Mecon Limited, though posted profit last year, is not doing well,” alleged Tirkey.

HEC is one of India’s oldest public sector units and supplies equipment to all major steel plants in India. According to its website, it has contributed to the setting up of the Bokaro and Vizag Steel plants in Jharkhand and Visakhapatnam, respectively.

It has manufactured and supplied over 5,50,000 tonnes of equipment to the steel sector, high-grade steel to the navy, cyclotron magnet poles to the department of atomic energy, forgings for the nuclear power sector, and so on.

Yet, for the past 16 months or so, some 2,700 workmen and 450 executives of the HEC have not got their salaries. In April 2023, officer grade workers received salaries for the month of February 2022, while workmen got half of their pay for May 2022.

HEC’s decline, both in employment numbers and in profits, appears to have begun after the liberalisation of the 1990s. The budgetary support it used to receive gradually declined and in 1992, the company was referred to the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction.

“Under the current central government, it is disappointing that PSUs are being neglected across the country which is affecting the workers and their families.

“Because of the short-sighted policy of the central government, public sector enterprises are facing problems and challenges at many levels. It seems the government is deliberately pushing for privatisation of such sectors,” alleged Tirkey, who is also a member of the Tribal Advisory Council in Jharkhand.