Blame game over Cachar Paper Mill can't hide facts: Sushmita Dev

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

SILCHAR: Cachar Paper Mill, the only central government enterprise of Barak Valley, turned into a junk due to extreme mismanagement, rampant corruption, trade union hegemony, and above all political interference of the time. The dishonest managerial staff and a section of employees flexing their muscles played a second fiddle to it and sounded the death knell of a mill that was the dream of people of the region. The Sentinel since the mid 80's has exposed many cases of corruption inside the mill with political patronage.

The corruption started even before the mill went into full steam. An influential Congress MP (RS) was offered 1000 bags of cement for helping the administration to reign in bullying trade union leaders. This was when the first GM SP Dasgupta took over charge. The corruption continued and in 2012 CBI filed a charge sheet against 7 persons including 3 officials for irregularities in purchase of coal. People remember Moinul Haque Choudhury, the then industry minister, at whose initiative the mill was set up at Panchgram.

Sontosh Mohan Dev, as Union Minister of Public Enterprises and Heavy Industries, sanctioned Rs 550 crore for modernisation of the mill. Corrupt elements made a mince-meat of the entire money and the mill was slowly but steadily being pushed to its death. Sushmita Dev, now TMC leader and MP (RS) of West Bengal, the other day at a press-meet blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for not keeping their assurances to open or revive the mill, forgetting the sequence of events of her father.

Barak Democratic Front leader Pradip Dutta Roy in a statement on Thursday squarely blamed Sontosh Mohan Dev and a BJP turned Congress leader for putting the mill in a mess. He said 'pot can't call the kettle black.' It is under the protection of these corrupt leaders that 10 truck load of bamboos were recorded as of 100 trucks. This kind of open manipulation in coal, limestone and other raw materials was rampant.

BDF hails Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for declaring a package of Rs 575 crore for relief of employees and also for exploring the setting up of a industrial park at Panchgram. Employees have expressed their happiness at this benevolence of the Himanta-led BJP government. They have acclaimed it as the most humanitarian attitude of the State government which has taken on itself the huge burden of Congress government just for the sake of their survival.

Also Read: Rs 700 Crores Approved By Assam Cabinet For Employees Of Paper Mills

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