Is it tea time yet?!
Back in 2011, I was placed in a small industrial township of Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (BALCO), a unit of the mining conglomerate Vedanta Resources Plc. Little did I know that life in BALCO township (situate in the town called Korba in the state of Chhattisgarh) would give me an insight like none other. As a fresh graduate lawyer, I was raring to go. Having been roped in by one of the top multi-national corporate houses, I assumed that the way of working would be fast paced. And it was. BALCO had been a public sector undertaking (a PSU i.e. a government enterprise) up until its disinvestment in the year 2001. In 2001, the government decided to disinvest 51% of its equity and management control to a private entity (Sterlite Industries India Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Vedanta Resources plc). Before the disinvestment took place, all employees were employees of the Government of India. Post disinvestment, it was agreed that the existing workmen would cont...