Paper Co. Ltd: Salary not paid since August 2017; Joint Action Committee to protest from August 12 along the NH at Tzudikong
Hundreds of workers of Nagaland Pulp & Paper Co. Ltd (NPPCL) have not received their salaries/wages since August 2017 till date and the superannuated employees and the families of deceased are yet to receive their pensionary dues from the month of September 2015.
In this regard, the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the Workers Union and Pensioners Union, Nagaland Pulp & Paper Co. Ltd. has announced to stage a protest from August 12 along the NH-2 (formerly NH-61) at Tzudikong, Mokokchung District.
In a press release submitted to Mokokchung Times, the Joint Action Committee (JAC) informed that the movement of vehicles shall be blocked at the site of protest and added that the democratic practice is to let their grievances be heard by the concerned authorities and the public.
Joint Action Committee (Workers Union & Pensioners Union) or JAC is an amalgamation of Workers Union Nagaland Pulp and Paper Company Limited (WUNPPCL) and ‘NPPCL Pensioners Union’, formed in 2021 to address the legitimate rights of the employees of NPPCL.
The committee reminded that NPPCL, a joint venture of the Hindustan Paper Corporation Limited (HPCL) and the Government of Nagaland was the only heavy industry established in the state and had many workers from the district and the state as well as from Assam and the rest of the country.
They pointed out that the NPPCL was established to uplift the socio-economic welfare of the state of Nagaland in the early 1970s and that the people made huge sacrifices particularly in terms of giving away lands at nominal/negligible compensations for the sake of development.
“However for no fault of the workers but for reasons relating to management, production of the paper mill ceased from the later part of 1992. Thereafter, the matter was referred to the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR),” it stated.
The committee then added that there were plans and measures for revival of the NPPCL but nothing happened at the ground level and learnt that the funds released for the revival of the Mill were diverted which subsequently led to HPCL undergoing the liquidation process.
“As such, as it stands today, we have lost all hope of revival of the NPPCL. However, the dues owned by the NPPCL to the workers should be given. The workers of NPPCL have not got their salaries from the month of August, 2017. Furthermore, superannuated employees and also employees who died in harness have not yet received their retiral pensionary dues from the month of September, 2015,” the statement read, and called it a gross violation of basic human rights.
The committee then mentioned that although other government employees are presently receiving pay scale as per the recommendation of the 7th pay commission, the employees of NPPCL till the month of July, 2017 were given the pay scale as per the recommendation of the 5th pay commission.
The committee, after assessing up to the month of December 2021, claimed that the liabilities for payment of wages and also dues to superannuated and deceased employees is Rs. 27,33,89,777.
“This assessment has been done in consultation with the Directorate of Industry and Commerce, Government of Nagaland. It is also learnt that an amount Rs 5.5 crore is reserved by the Government of Nagaland against the account of NPPCL equity share under civil deposit. Furthermore, Rs. 4,47,91,745 was lying in NPPCL Account no 915020052861003 at Axis Bank, Kolkata as per the update up to 10.6.2018,” the press release read.
The committee said that despite making numerous representations to the authorities, their grievances remained to be addressed in the most humiliating way. The committee also said that their requests for voluntary retirement schemes as per central government rules were also denied by the authorities concerned.
“In Assam a similar situation was also faced by the Mill Workers under HPC. However, the Government of Assam headed by the Chief Minister, Mr. Himanta Biswas took the initiative and in a meeting held on 28/9/21 decided to take measures to ease the suffering of the workers and their family members and also give them their entitled dues/rights,” it concluded.
The JAC said that they have decided to hold the protest after “exhausting all remedies insofar as praying to the concerned authorities for giving them their genuine/deserving/rightful dues.”
The JAC had on June 10 submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister of Nagaland citing their grievances and their decision to stage the protest, a copy of which was issued as a press release appended by A. Kika Lenda and K. Imlitemjen Jamir, president and secretary of the JAC respectively.