89 Unpaid Labourers Have Died So Far As PSU Paper Mill In Assam Fails To Pay Salary For 5 Years
Abdul Hannan 54 worked in the paper machine department and was suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure for the past several months. Hannan passed away as he could not afford treatment as he like all other employees of the mill had not been paid their salaries for the last five-and-half-years. The total deaths since the mills closure to 89 including four suicides.
An employee of the closed Cachar Paper Mill of the Hindustan Paper Mills died on June 12 at Paanchgram in Assam's Hailakandi, taking the total deaths since the mill's closure to 89, including four suicides.
The employee, Abdul Hannan, 54, worked in the paper machine department and was suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure for the past several months, his family said on Monday. He is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.
Cachar Paper Project Workers and Employees Union (Independent) general secretary A R Mazumder alleged Hannan passed away as he could not afford treatment as he, like all other employees of the mill, had not been paid their salaries for the last five-and-half-years.
Over 1,200 employees not paid salaries
File Photo
The two paper mills -- Cachar Paper Mill at Panchgram in Hailakandi district and Nagaon Paper Mill at Jagiroad in Morigaon district -- both units of Hindustan Paper Corporation Limited -- have been shut since October, 2015 and March, 2017 respectively.
Their employees who number over 1,200 have not been paid their salaries since then. Union officials estimate that over four lakh people are directly or indirectly impacted by the closure of the mills which at one time were touted as Asia's largest.
Little done for mill revival
The BJP government had promised to revive the paper mills after it assumed power in the state in 2016. A similar promise was made in the election campaign for the recently concluded assembly polls.
File Photo
However, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), after several rounds of meetings with all stakeholders ordered the liquidator on April 26 to sell the entire HPC in accordance with a decision of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT).
On June 1, advertisements seeking bids for the e-auction of the company, were issued. The reserve price for the bids has been kept at Rs 1,139 crore and the last date of submission of bids is June 15, while the auction will take place on June 30.
