Mokokchung, July 24 (MTNews): The Rising People’s party has asked the UDA coalition government to pay the pending salaries of the Tuli paper mill employees before the employees take to agitation on August 12, 2022.
As reported by this newspaper on June, the employees of Nagaland Pulp & Paper Co. Ltd. (NPPCL), also known as the Tuli paper mill, have not received their salaries or wages since August 2017 to the present, and the superannuated employees and the families of the deceased have not yet received their pensionary dues from the month of September 2015.
In this regard, the Nagaland Pulp & Paper Co. Ltd.’s Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the Workers Union and Pensioners Union has announced to stage a protest from August 12 along the NH-2 (formerly NH-61) at Tzudikong, Mokokchung District.
With respect to this issue, the newest political party in Nagaland, RPP, has urged CM Rio to “do what is right” and has made a plea to the UDA coalition government to pay the pending salary.
The party further argued that “the plight of the poor and the hapless people should be the first and foremost priority of any government, particularly for a Christian state like ours,” appealing to the “conscience of all the 60 legislators.”
The party continued by saying that the workers have been leading a “nightmarish existence” since the mill closed down in 1992 and cited newspaper reports which stated that the State government owes the paper mill workers Rs. 27. 33 Crore as of December 2021.
The party expressed shock over how “agovernment can be so immune to the plight of theseemployees who have been living hell on earth for the last 30 years.”
The RPP then accused the UDA Coalition government of spending crores each month on “top SUVs” while asserting that the government has thousands of crores in GST revenue at its disposal.
The RPP also cited NPCC President Therie’s allegation that each of the 21 NPF MLAs who joined the NDPP was given Rs. 2.50 crores that were taken from the MNREGA fund.It further said that the UDA coalition is yet to refute Therie’s allegation, and, therefore, the allegation must be true.
RPP said that “it doesn’t make sense” that the UDA Coalition doesnot have the money to pay “a measly 27 crores for Tuli employees” when,perhaps, hundreds of crores of rupees have been spent by now by the ‘Oppositionless Government’ making countless trips to Delhi/Guwahati for ‘Naga solution’.
RPP went on to say that the state government should have”clear-cut policies” regarding thefuture of Tuli Mill. “If Golden Handshake for the employees is desirable, thegovernment should do it. The UDA Coalition should settle this issue once and forall,” it stated.