After indianpsu.com Exposé, RINL Top Executives Remit Back Salary Amounts

In a significant development following the publication of an investigative report by www.indianpsu.com, the amounts allegedly credited to the accounts of the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) and Director (Finance) of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) have reportedly been remitted back, intensifying the controversy surrounding payment of salaries to the company’s top management.

The indianpsu.com report had triggered widespread criticism over the functioning of the Ministry of Steel and the RINL management after it highlighted allegations that while employees were denied full salaries on the grounds of financial distress, the CMD and Director (Finance) had reportedly received full salary payments along with arrears.

The reported reversal of the payments has now raised fresh questions over the circumstances under which the amounts were initially credited and whether all mandatory approvals had been obtained before the payments were processed.

Reacting to the latest development, Visakha Steel Employees Union General Secretary Padi Thrinadha Rao appealed to the Ministry of Steel to immediately institute an inquiry into the entire episode.

He demanded that the Ministry identify those responsible for authorising and receiving the payments and take stringent action if the payments were made without the approval of the competent authority.

“The Government must ascertain who authorised these payments and under what authority they were released when employees were continuously being denied their legitimate salaries citing paucity of funds,” Rao said.

The controversy centres on allegations that RINL employees across all categories were subjected to production-linked salary payments because of the company’s financial crisis, while senior management allegedly received preferential treatment.

The subsequent remittance of the amounts by the CMD and Director (Finance), coming soon after the issue received national attention through indianpsu.com, is likely to further intensify demands for transparency and accountability.

Employee representatives maintain that the issue extends beyond salary payments and concerns the principles of fairness, corporate governance and equal treatment within a Central Public Sector Enterprise.

The union has urged the Ministry of Steel to conduct a time-bound investigation, fix responsibility on officials found to have violated established procedures and ensure that employees who were denied their full salaries are treated fairly.

The Ministry of Steel has not yet issued an official statement on the latest developments.