Brooding over the once-prosperous days of the famed Cement Corporation of India (CCI)’s Adilabad unit, a group of silver-haired ex-employees sitting on the rickety wooden benches at a kirana shop in the township look dispirited. For, the Government of India has called online bids for valuation of assets required for disposal of plant, machinery along with plant’s structure, store and scrap and dismantling quarters of the township.
For them, the township was their universe. Even though production was suspended in October 1998, around 25 families of the former employees who occupied the factory-owned quarters continued to stay there. The quarters have been in a dilapidated state, due to lack of upkeep. Now with the valuation move, they are a worried lot as they see a definite eviction on cards.
During a series of interactions with The Hindu, they shared happy memories when the factory was functioning in full swing, but those are now tinged with a sense of misery and desolation. They blame the New Economic Policy adopted by the government in 1991 for wrecking their future.
