A software bug could have been behind the outbreak of violence at the Wistron Infocomm factory in Kolar.
Saturday’s outbreak of violence saw large parts of the factory damaged and looted after thousands of disgruntled contract workers were angered by continued delays or wage cuts.
Now, investigators believe this discontent was caused by a flaw in the way Wistron recorded worker attendance.
“Initially, the company was using a biometric system to record the attendance of contract workers who are paid for the number of days they work. But starting in October 2020, they introduced a new access card assistance system, which had software bugs, “said K Srinivas, Director of the Department of Factories, Boilers, Industrial Safety and Health, which has investigated the violence.
The problem continued for two months
A report released by the department on Monday suggested that the system bugs were not fixed even though the problem continued for two months.
An official who did not want to be named said hundreds of workers were consequently subject to lower pay because the system showed them absent on business days.
The disclosure comes even as (central) Police Inspector General Seemant Kumar Singh said phase 2 of the investigation was launched to uncover more details.
Wistron surprised
On Monday, Akram Pasha, commissioner of the Department of Labor, questioned Wistron and the outsourcing companies about the findings of the investigation of non-payment of wages and overtime violations.
Pasha said the outsourcing companies had rejected some of the findings made by the researchers.
“They claim that all payments have been made, but there was a four-day delay. We have requested documents and other evidence. Wistron, for example, has asked for a week, ”Pasha said. He added that Wistron’s management had also expressed surprise at the scale of discontent in its workforce.
Meanwhile, Senior Vice Minister Dr. CN Ashwath Narayan said action will be taken against companies that violate regulations. “The law is the same for everyone,” he told DH.
He added that the violence had also possibly occurred “because the factory is still new, the employees do not have a union and because the workers are mainly boys.”
Reconstruction in progress
An authorized source said Wistron has already started rebuilding and will resume production once the insurance assessors have completed their examination. The source also rejected claims that the company had put the factory in lockdown mode.
IGP Singh told DH that the police had no idea of the labor difficulties occurring at the factory.
“No complaint was filed with the Department of Labor. We continue to investigate the cause of the violence. So far we have arrested 149 people, ”he said.
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