‘Rs 2.5 crore released for payment of salaries’
SHILLONG: In what would come as a temporary relief to the employees of MCCL, official sources said on Tuesday that the State Government has released an amount of Rs 2.5 crore for payment of their salaries.
The salaries of the 500 plus MCCL employees have been pending since July. The Rs 2.5 crore that has been released will take care of two months’ salaries of the employees.
According to official sources, the State Government will make an arrangement for payment of four months’ salaries, which is around Rs 5 crores, next year.
“We are presently trying to locate funds for payment of the salaries from September to December,” official sources said.
Expressing happiness at the release of the two months’ salary by the government, the Mawmluh Cherra Cements Employees’ Union thanked chief minister Mukul Sangma and all officials involved in the initiative.
Earlier, the Committee on public undertakings had noted that the state government will have to pump in Rs 50 crore to ensure smooth production from the cememnt company’s new plant in April 2015.
The amount is required to liquefy term loans and payment of wages to over 500 employees at Sohra in East Khasi Hills, it said.
The amount included Rs 20 crore for part payment to sundry creditors, Rs 16.9 crore for repayment of a term loan availed from UCO Bank and Rs 3 crore for minimum liquidity of coal, committee chairman SC Marak had said. The plant which went into commercial production in 1966 using the wet process has also outlived its normal life and production was dismal after which a dry process plant was initiated in 2006 and is expected to begin production by early next year. Another problem that has badly hit the cement plant was the ban on mining and transportation of coal by the National Green Tribunal in April this year. At present, the company is compelled to procure coal from alternative sources outside the state, official sources said.
In the past decade, the company has been able to make profit till 2006-2007 with production of about one lakh MT annually. Since then, the production has gone down to barely 70,000 MT resulting in losses.