Ambanis At War, Now Over A Temple

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A new round of conflict broke out between the Ambani brothers on Friday with the faction led by Mukesh alleging 'harassment' of its employees by Anil Ambani group company Reliance Communications at its headquarters at Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City, a charge denied by the other side.

RIL sources said that its employees were 'harassed' and were 'being denied access to cafeteria, temple and other facilities,' and wondered as to why its employees should be subjected to such a treatment on 'payment issues that are discussed at the management level.'

When contacted, sources at Reliance Communications termed the allegations as 'fictitious, distorted and malicious' and said that access to the temple at DAKC has never been barred to anyone.

In its counter-attack, Reliance Communications contended that RIL had defaulted in payments of nearly Rs 200 crore (Rs 2 billion) for use of facilities at DAKC for over a year in spite of several reminders.

Complaining of harassment for the last three days, including denial of access to computers and software, RIL sources said that the treatment was against the 'nature and the spirit that exists between the two.'

In an e-mail to its employees, RIL, headed by Mukesh, said: 'The turn of events is most unfortunate and unimaginable. But, RIL management is confident that all of us will be resilient. I am sure your erstwhile colleagues, friends and relatives working in Reliance Communications would also share sympathies,' the e-mail by a top executive of RIL human resource department said.

Terming as 'unilateral and arbitrary,' the order of Reliance Communications management giving just one day to change the ID cards, RIL in its mail regretted that their request for a week to make the changes in the ID cards was disallowed.

"We are therefore trying our best to issue revised cards as soon as we can. We will attempt our best by again appealing to the top most management of Reliance Communications to reconsider the decision of its unilateral, arbitrary order of giving us just one day. We, therefore, hope that Reliance Communications management will not subject (RIL employees) to avoidable humiliation that some of us had to undergo at the main gate recently," the mail said.

But Reliance Communications sources said: "RIL personnel have free access to all facilities in their part of area within DAKC."

Listing out various other issues of harassment, including parking, common area and dining area, RIL appealed to its employees at DAKC to exercise restraint and support the management, saying it believed in treating everyone with equal dignity and humanity and would still continue to do so.

"We are confident that RIL staff is not at a security risk at Reliance Communications," the mail said.

On the shortage of parking facility, RIL has in fact suggested to its employees to go for a 'car pool,' saying 'apart from this minor car parking issue, all of you will appreciate the necessity to conserve fuel in the current crisis of fuel price in the country.'

RIL said that it was meanwhile making efforts to examine an alternative parking arrangement outside DAKC. "We are still hoping that the Reliance Communications management will reconsider their unilateral order and allow us additional parking," it added.

On other facilities, RIL contended: "The Reliance Communications management is insisting that RIL staff cannot visit even common areas like food court, ATM and most unfortunately, even the temple.

"We will continue appealing to them that at least the religious sentiments should not be hurt by stopping the people who are habituated to visiting the temple before or after work hours," RIL said.

Amid these problems, RIL has requested its employees to explain to their visitors to come with prior appointments to teh national headquarters or petroleum headquarters to avoid embarrassment.

News source: Business Standard

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RIL dares Anil Ambani to approach appropriate forum on issues

Criticising Anil Ambani group for raising various issues to divert attention from the "petty" act of harassing its employees, elder Ambani Mukesh- controlled Reliance Industries today advised ADAG to approach the proper forum for redressal of grievances.

Reacting sharply to the allegation of "violation" of a June 2005 family settlement agreement levelled against it by ADAG, RIL said: "It always fulfilled all its obligations and commitments and would continue to do so in future."

In its counter attack, a RIL spokesperson said: "Current issue being raised by Anil Ambani group is an attempt to divert attention away from shockingly petty act of harassment of RIL employees at DAKC (Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge Centre)."

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