Guwahati, May 3: In a move that would provide relief to employees of two non-functional paper mills, the Assam Cabinet has approved the release of Rs 308.75 crore as part of the Rs 700 crore relief package to the staff of Nagaon Paper Mill and Cachar Paper Mill of Hindustan Paper Corporation Ltd.
“This will provide further support to the employees of the two paper mills and is in line with the commitment of the state government,” chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said after the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
A general relief package of Rs 700 crore, which includes settlement of various outstanding dues of employees and workers of HPCL’s assets at Nagaon and Cachar paper mills, was offered by the state government last year. The package was subsequently accorded approval in a Cabinet meeting held in September 2021.
The Joint Action Committee of Recognised Unions (JACRU) of the Nagaon and Cachar paper mills, through an email on Monday, had requested the chief minister to immediately disburse the relief package and implement the agreement in letter and spirit.
“We shall be highly obliged for your urgent intervention to save the lives of the workers and employees struggling for survival,” JACRU president, Manobendra Chakraborty had stated in the email to the chief minister.
It may be noted that the Assam government had on March 28, 2022, taken over the assets of Hindustan Paper Corporation Limited (HPCL) paper mills at Jagiroad and Panchgram.
The nodal agency, Assam Industrial Development Corporation had participated in the e-auction process of all the assets, plant, technical area, township area of Nagaon and Cachar paper mills pursuant to public announcement on February 26, 2022 at a reserve price of Rs 375 crore.
The state government has paid the amount of Rs 375 crore and will be distributed by the liquidator in accordance with the norms of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) 2016.
The remaining amount of Rs 700 crore will be utilised in clearing the dues of employees and workers of HPCL.
The Cachar Paper Mill at Panchgram in Hailakandi district and Nagaon Paper Mill at Jagiroad in Morigaon have been non-functional since October 2015 and March 2017 respectively. Employees of the mills have not been paid salaries since the past 63 months.
Worse still, as many as 103 employees of the mills have lost their lives so far, a majority of them unable to meet medical expenses.