On June 2, an employee of state-owned Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (GMDC) delivered a lecture on security measures at the plant. It might seem out of place, but he concluded his speech with the slogan ‘Bharat Mata Ki jai’.
This didn’t go down well with his South Korean boss who issued the employee a show-cause notice demanding why he needed to raise nationalistic slogans at company meeting, reports Ahmadabad Mirror.
Dilip Shimali works as a junior engineer with KEPCO, a South Korean company that runs Akri Mota Thermal Power Plant in Kutch on contract basis from GMDC.
Shimali’s boss Kim Cheol Yeong first rapped him for his act after the meeting on June 2 and later sent him the notice. This sparked unrest in the employees’ union and the matter reached the GDMC.
The state firm has now issued a circular stating that workers can raise nationalistic slogans at workplace, as per the report.
Plant general manager A P Garg tried to play down the matter to Mirror, saying the Korean head probably didn’t understand the slogan due to a language barrier.
“It is not that South Koreans do not appreciate nationalistic fervour…However, they are of the opinion that slogans should be raised only on proper platforms,“ Garg added.