Closure of Govada sugar factory leaves workers in limbo

A year since the Govada Sugar Factory fell silent, nearly 1,000 workers are caught in a deepening crisis — their salaries withheld for four months, retirement dues unpaid, and neither a reopening date nor a relief package on the horizon.

What was once a thriving industrial landmark — a unit whose sirens set the daily clock for surrounding communities for over six decades — now stands idle, its fate tied up in unresolved disputes, leaving families to fend for themselves with no end in sight.

The younger workers, those under 45, have scattered to pharmaceutical units at the Achyutapuram SEZ, working daily-wage shifts far below their skills and seniority. Others have migrated out of the district altogether. Those above 50 — too old for the private sector, too young to retire — have been left with nowhere to go.

At the time of closure, the factory employed close to 1,000 workers across NMR, daily wage, contract, permanent, and security rolls. Today, only a thin line of regular staff and security personnel reports for duty.

Retired workers have not received their gratuity. Serving workers have gone without pay for four months, forcing many into loans. Total pending dues — to both current and former employees — stand at an estimated ₹5 crore, with no disbursal date announced.

Local MLAs have raised the matter, but workers say nothing concrete has followed. With revival hopes fading, many are now pressing for immediate implementation of the Voluntary Retirement Scheme — their last remaining lifeline to access dues and pivot to small businesses or other work.

“We are waiting without direction. At least tell us clearly what is going to happen,” said workers, making a direct appeal to the authorities to end the silence and act without further delay.