The Joint Action Committee for Registered Unions (JACRU) said the auction procedure of Assam‘s two paper mills — Cachar Paper Mill and Nagaon Paper Mill – stands cancelled for now.
The Joint Action Committee for Registered Unions in a statement said the auction stands cancelled because within the stipulated time, no private entity deposited Rs 55 crore required for participating in the auction process.
It needs to be mentioned that the liquidator Kuldeep Sharma on June 1, 2021 informed the media that the government has decided to auction the twin paper mills.
To participate in the auction the interested entities will have to deposit Rs 55 crore within June 15, 2021.
But no entity has deposited this amount and as per rule, there will be no auction for now.
However, it also needs to be mentioned that on June 3, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma while addressing a press conference in Delhi asked as to who would invest Rs 1,200 crore on these twin paper mills.
Members of JACRU said the chief minister should step in and save the paper mills.
“If adequate steps are not being taken now, many mill employees will lose their life,” JACRU said in its statement.
For the past 54 months the mill employees are not getting their dues.
Many employees have already died of various ailments and above all could not go for treatment due to their financial crunch.
So far, 89 mill employees have already lost their lives — four employees have reportedly committed suicide.
Meanwhile, JACRU said it is optimistic and hopes that the chief minister would keep his words as he assured it that the pending dues of mill employees would be cleared soon.
At the same time JACRU also urged Silchar MP Dr Rajdeep Roy to come forward and help them save the twin paper mills.