Low production at Mawmluh Cement plant irks staff

SHILLONG: The Mawmluh Cherra Cement Limited (MCCL) Employees Union has lamented that production at the modernised plant stands at 200-250 metric tonne (MT) every day though its installed capacity is 600 MT.
Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, president of the union S Diengdoh said the new modernised plant did produce 600 MT earlier but now its production has gone down and is lesser than the private cement plants in Meghalaya which are producing up to 2,000 MT a day.
Diengdoh said the employees’ problems will be solved greatly if the plant generates cement to its full capacity and added that the union “will welcome any expert who can increase the production to its full potential”. The union is angry with the MCCL management and the government over its long pending salary with effect from August 2015 to March 2016, besides their overtime dues from November 2013 to December 2016 and from May 2017 till date.
The employees also want the government to take care of the employees with other benefits like medical and maternal facilities even as he added that the employees want to see improvement in the overall functioning of the company.
According to the union, the employees had taken up the matter with the government on several occasions but there was no response.
The MCCL union has issued a 14-day notice to the management and the government for redressal of their grievances failing which they would resort to agitation.
The modernised plant started functioning last year and the cost of modernisation of MCCL was reportedly Rs 145 crore, including bank loans. The bank interest alone went up to Rs 35 crore.
MCCL (formerly Assam Cements Limited) started functioning in 1966 and had many breakdowns. After Meghalaya was formed in 1972, it was under the control of the state government.
Till 2007, MCCL was making profit but since 2008 following a major breakdown, the state government planned modernisation that took almost eight years.