TUMAKURU: It was a bad weekend for the last 120 employees of Hindustan Machine Tools ( HMT ) in Tumakuru, who got their relieving letters as the PSU shut down operations. Ironically, the letters came on May Day The HMT watch factory unit, which once manufactured the premier brand of wristwatches like Sangam Utsav , Elegance and Pilot, among others, was finally relegated to the pages of history.Indicating the sad state of affairs in PSUs, the Union government had already decided to shut down the HMT watch manufacturing units across India. With the management closing two units in Bengaluru, the other units in Jammu, Ranibag and Tumakuru were shut at the same time on Saturday.Nagarathnamma, who claimed to be the first woman employee of HMT factory, said, "The management's decision to relieve us on May Day is not right. We struggled to build the factory and gave everything to this unit."Another employee, Ramesh, said he had worked here for seven-and-half years, but had got benefits for only 40 months. "This is the gift of Prime Minister Modi's 'Make In India' effect," he fumed, questioning how he could start a new life with this small amount and no hope of a job.Siddappa, another employee, said the management had threatened the employees to take voluntary retirement, which meant that only six months' salary would be given and the remaining amount would have been remitted to court. "Fearing for our future, we signed the VRS papers under force," he claimed.