Demand For CBI Probe Into Central Funds To Paper Mills

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: All India Central Council of Trade Unions, in association with Guwahati Refinery Workmen Union, came out against the government stating that its policy are beneficial only to the corporate sector and capitalists.

The state labor convention with the slogan ‘save paper mill, save industry and save the labourers’ at the Guwahati Press Club on Sunday expressed its full support to the protest to be staged on August 27 by the Central Trade Union and Federation. Demanding a CBI investigation for the Rs 4141 crore allotted for Jagiroad and Cachar paper mills that the Central government had announced in the Lok Sabha, the convention also demanded the government to materialize the promise given earlier to Namrup Fertilizer for uplifting it, including some initiative for reviving the tea estates under Assam Tea Corporation. The convention also expressed disgust over the act of handing over oilfields, including the Digboi oilfield, to foreign capitalist and demanded to stop the privatization process of the refineries.

Kagaj Nigam Karmi Union general secretary Ananda Bordoloi said, “The employees of Nagaon paper mill are yet to get 30 months’ salary and the employees of Cachar Paper mill haven’t received their salary for 32 months. The BJP before coming to power spoke about bringing back the people working outside the state and the government of the same party is now destroying the industries of the State.”

Attending the convention, president of Cachar Paper Workers’ Union Manabendra Chakrabarty said, “The government is actually killing the helpless people by providing opportunities to the corporate sector. India is having a government which is not a government for the people. The government in the truest sense is nothing but a government formed of the corporate, by the corporate and for the corporate.”

He further said, “With a conspiracy to spell doom for the paper industry as a whole, the government made us loss of raw materials worth over Rs 100 crore. In order to divert the people’s mind, a false news has been spread that the authorities of the two paper mills are behind the poor situation of the two paper mills. If that’s so, we ask the government to conduct an investigation. Further there is no official notice for closing the industry. The Act East Policy is actually a step to destroy Assam. Our children are pursuing engineering and polytechnic, if all industries get closed down one by one then where our children will work. We must think about it because it’s not just workers problem. The public at large should come out for a permanent solution.”

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