Chainsaw machine workers protest ‘unfair’ closure

MEERUT: The Aara Mill Association of Meerut on Saturday staged a protest outside the district magistrate’s office here against the administration’s order to close down chainsaw units. The decision has rendered some 500 to 800 workers unemployed. The administration has assured the workers that the matter would be looked into and resolved soon.
The workers associated with the chainsaw business said the district forest officer (DFO) on March 24 told them to close down their business as it was illegal.
“We have been in this business for many years. We supply sports’ products to markets like Surajkund. Suddenly, without warning the DFO told us that our business is illegal and without explaining anything. Our livelihood has been impacted terribly. We are daily wage earners and now don’t have any other source of livelihood and have nothing to eat,” said Aasif Khan, a chainsaw worker.
Khan said every morning, he used to go to his tin shed near Surajkund and work on the chainsaw machine to cut wood into smaller logs and supply them to the nearby sports factories. These logs would be carved into cricket bats. He earned around Rs 300 a day. Now, he has nothing to fall back on.
Suddenly, he was forced to shut shop on March 24, when the district forest officials came and ordered him to close the unit, saying that the business was illegal.
“We are not able to manage our household expenses now. Our only means of livelihood has been shut. Nobody listens to the poor in the government,” said Mehrunissa Khan, wife of one of the chainsaw workers.
The Aara Machine Association led by Arun Kumar Goyal staged a protest outside the DM’s office and demanded that the workers be allowed to continue their business. “What the administration has done is very unfair. We demand that the administration allow smooth functioning of these businesses,” said Goyal.
District forest officer Aditi Sharma was unavailable for comment. District magistrate Sameer Verma assured the workers that their concerns would be looked into. “We do not want to impact the livelihoods of anyone. We will certainly look into the matter and provide a speedy resolution,” the DM promised.