Silchar: Another former employee of Cachar Paper Mill has died, taking the total number of deaths of employees and former employees of Assam’s two defunct Hindustan Paper Corporation mills to 134.Bhupendra Chandra Singh (64), a former Cachar Paper Mill employee, died of kidney failure at his home in Janaki Bazar, Hailakandi district, on Saturday, said Manobendra Chakraborty, president of the Cachar Paper Project Workers’ Union and the Joint Action Committee of Recognised Unions.Chakraborty said Singh actively participated in the workers’ strife for outstanding salaries and other dues.According to the union, 134 employees and former employees of Cachar Paper Mill in Panchgram and Nagaon Paper Mill in Jagiroad have died since the mills entered a financial crisis. The figure includes four suicides.Cachar Paper Mill stopped production in Oct 2015, while Nagaon Paper Mill shut in March 2017. Both were owned by Centre-run Hindustan Paper Corporation, which later went into liquidation.Chakraborty alleged that prolonged non-payment of salaries and statutory dues, including provident fund benefits, caused severe financial hardship and mental stress. He said workers were denied salaries and other entitlements for 113 months.Though the Assam govt announced a humanitarian assistance package after acquiring the mills’ assets through liquidation, workers’ organisations continue to demand settlement of dues and rehabilitation for affected families.Chakraborty held the Centre responsible and appealed for support for the workers’ demand for justice.
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