Paper Mill revival committee calls for a 12 hour band on November 22; demands revival of mill, clearance of dues

The HPC Paper Mills Revival Action Committee, a joint body of the employees’ unions of Cachar Paper Mill and Nagaon Paper Mill in Assam, has called for a dawn-to-dusk bandh in Barak Valley on November 22 in protest against the alleged apathy of the government in reviving the mills.

Addressing media persons at a press conference in Silchar on Tuesday, the chief convener of the committee Manobendra Chakraborty said the workers of both the mills has been suffering unimaginably for the past many months, but the government is showing no interest in this regard.

Although the workers had not received their salaries for the past 20-21 months and facing extreme problems due to financial crunch, the government is completely oblivious to their plight.

The bandh on November 22 would be from 5am to 5pm.

Launching a scathing attack on the central government, Chakraborty said the Centre could approve a package of Rs. 469 crore for the revival of NEPA Mill in Madhya Pradesh, but is showing no interest to make the two defunct mills functional in Assam.
He further took a jibe at Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal saying though Sonowal had announced during the Namami Barak festival’s inaugural event on November 18 last year that all the pending salaries would be paid, those were nothing but “bogus” promises, he said.

Another committee member Sanjeev Roy said though there have been assurances from many leaders from the BJP on revival of the mills and release of the pending salaries, nothing has happened till date. The government must take prompt initiatives to resolve the long-pending issues, he said.
Among other committee members, Baharul Islam, Dipak Chandra Nath and Jiaul Rahman were present.