Revival Of HPC Paper Mills: Nagaon, Cachar workers' union threatens to move UNO & IHRC

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The employees' joint forum of HPC (Hindustan Paper Corporation) Ltd, Nagaon & Cachar mills, has threatened to move the 'United Nations Organisation' (UNO) and also the 'International Human Rights Commission' (IHRC) for redressal of their rights if the Central and State governments fail to address their demands including the revival of the units at the earliest.

Alleging that the governments are "attempting to kill the workers of the two mills" the leaders of the organization pointed out, "Since the time the mills were closed by the government, already 81 employees have died. The Cachar Paper Mill was closed on October 20, 2015 while the Nagaon Paper Mill was closed on March 13, 2017."

Addressing the media at the Guwahati Press Club here on Tuesday, the president of JACRU (Joint Action Committee of Recognise Unions), Nagaon and Cachar paper mills, Manabendra Chakrabarty said, "The governments at the Centre and State are liars. They are against workers. Glaring instances of their anti-worker policies have been reflected in the Nagaon and Cachar paper mills under HPC.

Posing, "Why has the Government of Assam not come up even with a single revival proposal for the Nagaon and Cachar paper mills?" Chakrabarty pointed out, "But we held discussions with the State government more than 19 times."

He added, "This is despite the facts that the Government of Madhya Pradesh succeeded in bringing Rs 449 crore from the Centre and reviving the NEPA paper mills in that State. The Government of Kerala also revived the Hindustan Newsprint Limited — a unit of HPC in their State.

"The then Union Heavy Industry & Public Enterprise Minister informed the Parliament on July 9, 2019, that from 2014-2015 to 2017-2018, an amount of Rs 4,141 crore was invested in the Nagaon and Cachar paper mills. We want to know what happened to this money from the Centre.

"Quite surprised at this declaration of the Union Minister, we demanded an inquiry by the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation).In this regard, we sent letters to the Prime Minister, Chief Minister, and Auditor General of India. But we got no reply.

"On the other hand, there is serious anomaly of Rs 107 crore in the PF (Provident Fund) account of the mill employees. The Delhi High Court has ordered a probe into this case."

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