The Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC), one of the country’s most significant central public sector undertakings, is presently navigating a dual crisis, one offering modest relief, the other sowing deep anxiety among its workforce. While township schools have stepped forward to reduce tuition fees for the children of HEC employees, a more pressing conflict is unfolding over the management’s move to introduce outsourcing, a step that has been met with strong resistance from long-serving supply and contract workers.
In a move seen as a lifeline for struggling families, four educational institutions operating within the HEC campus—Saraswati Shishu Vidya Mandir, Prabhat Tara School, YMCA Public School, and Vivekanand Vidya Mandir—have announced sweeping concessions in tuition fees for the academic session beginning 2025–26. Saraswati Shishu Vidya Mandir has fixed tuition fees at ₹500 per month for a three-year period, while Prabhat Tara School has entirely waived tuition and computer fees. YMCA Public School has offered a 90 per cent fee concession for students of Classes 1 to 8. Vivekanand Vidya Mandir has set tuition fees ranging from ₹250 to ₹450 per month, depending on the grade.
According to administrators, the decision aims to ensure that education remains accessible even as financial instability grips HEC households. Discussions are reportedly ongoing with other schools in the vicinity to implement similar fee relaxations.
However, the relief in education has done little to ease growing unrest within the company. At the centre of the storm are nearly 1,400 supply and contract workers, many of whom have served the organisation for over two decades. The proposed introduction of an outsourcing system has triggered deep discontent.
Workers allege that despite promises of regularisation, the management now appears intent on terminating their services to make way for contract labour hired through private agencies. The resentment is particularly strong among those with technical training, many of whom hail from displaced families that were originally absorbed into the company on the assurance of long-term employment.
Manoj Pathak, member of the HEC Supply Workers Struggle Committee, told The Statesman that the workers have been left with little option but to resist. “We have served for 20 to 25 years under the belief that our jobs would one day be regularised. Now we are being shown the door under the pretext of outsourcing. We refuse to accept this. We will not fill any agency forms.”
He further added that a similar experiment with outsourcing in the security wing had previously failed, eventually compelling the company to revert to its original manpower structure.
The sentiment was echoed at a large gathering held on Sunday near Dhurwa Golchakkar, where hundreds of workers and their families came together to voice unanimous opposition to the outsourcing formula. A resolution was passed asserting that no worker would agree to be hired through an external agency.
Several participants warned that any coercive attempt by the management to enforce this transition would be met with legal action. Some workers questioned the logic of engaging expensive contractors when the company itself is reeling under financial distress. “If the institution cannot pay its current workers, how does it plan to fund agencies? This is not just about jobs, it is about dignity and trust,” said one agitated worker.
The development has placed renewed focus on the upcoming meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Public Undertakings, which is examining HEC’s revival. After two inconclusive rounds, the third meeting is being described as potentially decisive. Significantly, for the first time, union representatives have been invited to participate—allowing workers to directly present their case to lawmakers.
According to Pathak, “If the government truly wants to save HEC, it must begin by valuing the experience and commitment of its own workforce. An institution cannot thrive if it continues to alienate those who have built its foundation.”