By Marbakynti Shati & Nabamita Mitra
Mawmluh Cherra Cements stands as a fortress dominating the azure Sohra sky. The narrow but well-tarred road from Cherrapunji to Mawmluh takes a smooth turn overlooking the ageing cement factory in a youthful pride.
The changing time has a visible impact on the “pride of the state” — the rundown facilities, the heaps of broken metals and cars in places inside the factory, the gigantic blackened walls, the abandoned structures and a weak gate at the entrance — and corroded its capabilities to perform. The blue building, which is a new construction, is the only structure that effuses hope and holds on to the past glory.
The cement company, originally named as Assam Cements Ltd, came into being on May 20, 1955. After bifurcation of the state, the company was renamed as Mawmluh Cherra Cements Ltd (MCCL) in May 1974.
Commercial production at the facility started from November 15, 1966. It was a wet process plant and had one kiln of 250 TPD (tonnes per day).
“During our time, everything was done manually. For every section, there was a dedicated team. There were around 600 employees,” said Jamai Sing Rajee, who joined the company in 1971 and worked there for around 40 years.
By 1985, the factory had three kilns of bigger capacities. In the early nineties the company undertook a reactivation programme under the guidance of ACC Ltd for toning up certain areas of operation for augmenting production. With this, the company’s profits soared, according to the information provided by the MCCL management.
The improvement in the financial condition of MCCL helped the company to pay back its loans to the government and financial institutions in 1994-95 and it became “totally debt-free”.
MCCL’s profit earnings continued till 2006-07 after which its luck ran out. But till that period, it did not turn to the government for help. Old-timers say Mawmluh cement, which was known for its quality, had a monopoly till other private companies forayed into Meghalaya market.
Bhim Sarki, a former employee who retired in 2008, said the surplus production was sent to other states like Mizoram and Assam.
From 2007 onwards, the plant began to witness frequent breakdowns and continuous operating problems. Also, operational expenses and power consumption at the ageing plant spiralled, putting tremendous pressure on its finances. The accumulated reserves earned during the profit-making period were gradually exhausted as it was invested in the expansion project as well as running the company.
The drastic drop in production had a cascading effect on the finances and liquidity of the company. The rise in operational expenses along with the cost of power and fuel and consumables coupled with low production put the company in the red.
In 2005, the company decided to introduce a dry process plant. Thus no investment was made in the old set-up. The new project started in May 2006 at a cost of Rs 84.95 crore and was supposed to be completed by October 2007.
“On being assured of financial support by the government, MCCL embarked on the 600 TPD expansion project on May 1, 2006, at a cost of Rs 85 crore, under the technical consultancy of M/s Holtec Industries (P) Ltd, Gurgaon. A part of the project cost was financed by UCO Bank,” said a statement from the management.
A plaque on the MCCL premises says the foundation stone for the dry process plant was laid by then chief minister DD Lapang on April 1, 2005. Former legislator ZM Sangma and SS Gupta were the chairman and the managing director, respectively, at that time.
But fund crunch hit the project in the initial stage led to inordinate delays escalating the cost. MCCL’s inability to contribute proportionate equity prevented the company to utilise the term loan for releasing timely payments to suppliers and contractors and maintain the flow of work. The project came on track only in 2010-11 when it received bulk funds.
The workers at the plant, whose salaries are paid from the earnings from production, started to feel the heat as MCCL hit the nadir. Salary became irregular.
According to the company statement, the operation at the old plant stopped completely after the ban on coal mining in 2014. (However, this claim of the management is rejected by many who said there was not much impact.)
The company had to knock on the government’s door to pay its employees.
The dry process plant finally started commercial production on September 26, 2016. The project cost had shot up of Rs 142.97 crore.
Dark days
Despite the commissioning of the dry process plant, the company could not turn around as production remained way below the 600 metric tonnes per day capacity. “The company wanted to be out of the woods with the new dry process plant but look what happened to it,” said 70-year-old Sarki, who stays in Sohra.
Salary became more irregular and for months, the MCCL employees worked without payment. The employees are yet to get eight months’ salary from August 2015 to March 2016. Their overtime payment is pending from November 2013 to December 2016 and since May 2017. Medical facilities and safety materials at the plant have also been stopped.
There are 330 employees at present of which 150 are casual workers.
Even after such dire straits, the employees remained patient and abstained from agitation (there was only one incident of a short protest in 2015-16 but that was withdrawn after the management negotiated with the workers). They continued to pursue the management to clear their dues. Their requests fell on deaf ears and the company only gave paltry amounts intermittently to pacify the workers.
“But we have families and children who are studying. How do we meet our expenses considering that prices of commodities are rising every day,” said an employee on condition of anonymity. He added that he has three children who are studying, a baby and an ailing mother to take care of.
The exemplary patience of the workers finally gave way and on November 21, the Mawmluh Cherra Cement Employees’ Union met the media and gave the management 14 days to act appropriately.
The union leaders raised the problem of under-production. “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,” The Shillong Times had quoted a senior functionary of the union as saying.
When a senior official in the management was asked about the dwindled production, he said the workers are being trained to handle the modern facility. But he could not give a time frame for the completion of training.
A former employee said he had been hearing about the training since 2013 and could not fathom “what kind of special training” was it that the workers still remained unskilled.
On November 26, a general meeting was held between the union and the management. The latter successfully convinced the workers to suspend their agitation till the first week of December.
MCCL has to pay Rs 8 crore dues to the employees, sources said.
The employees so far have approached every authority, including the Labour Commission, for help but nothing yielded result.
Several stakeholders and former employees whom Sunday Shillong spoke to blamed “complete mismanagement” for the situation.
Rajee, while reminiscing about the lost glory, said the company was well-managed and there was discipline. “Now there are mindless management and too much political interference,” the 69-year-old added.
“The employees were happy because the management took care of them,” Sarki said.
The frequently changing management has also affected officials’ commitment to the company. In the last three years, the company got three managing directors, whose salary is paid by the government and is regular.
Till recently, the company did not have an expert process engineer.
Former MLA of Sohra Titostarwell Chyne said he had taken up the issue with the government. “As far as I know, the government gave Rs 87 crore in 2017 but I don’t know what happened to the money… The management is hopeless,” he added.
No one’s child
MCCL has been neglected for a long time now. Neither the government nor the management ever bothered to market the locally made product even at a time of tough competition. Nowhere in the state on can find hoardings or placards with MCCL advertisements. However, advertisements of private cement companies are aplenty.
The move to augment production by introducing the dry process plant came too late. By that time, the local markets were flooded with other companies’ products.
There is no proper website of the company that could provide information about its history, management and activities. In other words, no transparency was maintained in running the company.
There is also an eerie silence among stakeholders about MCCL. When Sunday Shillong wanted to contact senior officials of the company at its office in the city, they were more concerned about the credibility of the reporters than sharing information. They also discouraged the reporters from visiting the factory in Sohra by saying all information would be provided by the management.
When contacted, Sohra MLA and chairman of the Meghalaya Khadi Village and Industries Board Gavin M Mylliem said MCCL “comes under Bah Donkupar Roy’s constituency, so please speak to him”.
Only a month ago, Mylliem had suggested measures to revamp the sick PSU.
Roy, who contacted, was unwilling to comment as he was “busy”. The second call was never received.
Future tense
The mammoth structures of the MCCL factory still hold the potential to regain the loss. But years of neglect and apathy have made that hope bleak.
Yet many believe that if the government sincerely prepares a road map, turnaround is possible.
“There is need for around Rs 30 crore more and if the government provides that, it will be a great help,” said Chyne.
Rajee, however, was of the opinion that privatisation is the only way to revive the PSU.
“I don’t think it is the way out. MCCL is the pride of the state and the only company held by the (state) government. So we should try our best to bring it back to life,” said Chyne as he rejected the idea of privatisation.
Chief Minister Conrad Sangma informed that the government will soon hold a meeting to discuss all issues related to the cement company.
When asked how soon the meeting will be and whether it will discuss another bailout, Sangma said, “I cannot comment on anything right now. I have sent a note to the Ministry of Commerce and Industries and once the reply comes we will proceed.”
MCCL has turned into a white elephant and to make it a profit-generating entity again, the government needs to urgently bring about changes in the management comprising young and enterprising officials. It should also fix accountability so that the employees do not become scapegoats.
The union too should play an important role in making the management accountable for its lackadaisical attitude. Instead of becoming subservient to the hierarchy, it should fight for the rights of the workers and become their voice so that the cries reach the corridor of power in the state.