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Nostalgia Among Workers As Watch-Maker HMT Finally Downs Its Shutters

Nostalgia Among Workers As India's Beloved Watch-Maker Finally Downs Its Shutters
HuffPost Staff

One of India's most loved watch manufacturers, Hindustan Machine Tools Ltd (HMT), shut their gates on the last factory in Tumkur, Karnataka, on International Labour Day.

The move triggered nostalgia among the few HMT workers who decided to come to bid their workplace a final adieu. The factory unit, which once manufactured wristwatches for brands such as Sangam, Utsav, Elegance and Pilot, among others, had about 120 workers on board as of now, reported The Times of India.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had in January announced closure of HMT Watches Ltd, along with HMT Chinar Watches Ltd and HMT Bearings Ltd.

General secretary of the workers' union S Chandrashekhariah told The Hindu, “In some ways, it was all our fault. When the losses started, the management didn’t care, and the government kept giving loans without any intention of reviving the factory. This process should have been done some time ago."

Interestingly, none of the HMT employees have more than eight years of service left and are on the verge of retirement, as the last person recruited by HMT Watches Ltd was almost three decades ago — in 1987.

But on a positive note, many of the employees were happy with the factory shutting down, as they would get their salaries and arrears, which have been due for over a year, said a report in The New Indian Express.

All the four HMT units — three in Karnataka (including Tumkur) and on in Uttarakhand were shut on the same day.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.