Assam cabinet has approved a total of Rs 700 crores for addressing the grievances of the two paper mill employees in the state.
The announcement was made by Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma after chairing a meeting of the state cabinet in Dhemaji district.
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“A total of Rs 700 crore has been approved. Of the total Rs 700 crore, Rs 570 crore has been approved for HPCL employees as part of a relief package,” the Assam chief minister said.
The Assam chief minister further informed that the state government will acquire the assets of two defunct paper mills of Hindustan Paper Corporation Limited.
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Earlier, on Wednesday, CM Sarma had said that the Assam government will ‘resolve’ pending salaries issue of the employees and workers of the Hindustan Paper Corporation Limited (HPCL).
Sarma held a meeting with the employees and workers of HPCL at his the office in Guwahati on Wednesday.
The two HPCL paper mills – Cachar Paper Mill and Panchgram in Hailakandi district and Nagaon Paper Mill at Jagiroad in Morigaon district – have been non-functional since October 2015 and March 2017 respectively.
The BJP government in Assam had promised to revive the paper mills after Sarbananda Sonowal assumed charge as Chief Minister in 2016 and while campaigning for the assembly polls held this year.
The employees of the two paper mills are yet to receive salaries for at least 55 months.
As many as 93 employees of the two defunct paper mills have died in the last 58 months.