Assam paper mills: Ex-employee dies, union says toll now 134

Another former employee of the shut Cachar Paper Mill has died, taking the number of deaths among employees and former employees of Assam's two defunct Hindustan Paper Corporation (HPC) mills to 134, according to the workers' union.

Bhupendra Chandra Singh, 64, died of kidney failure at his home in Janaki Bazar in Hailakandi district on Saturday, Manobendra Chakraborty, president of the Cachar Paper Project Workers' Union and the Joint Action Committee of Recognised Unions, told The Times of India. Chakraborty said Singh had taken an active part in the workers' campaign for unpaid salaries and other dues.

How the union counts the toll

The union's figure covers staff of both HPC units in Assam: the Cachar Paper Mill at Panchgram in Hailakandi district and the Nagaon Paper Mill at Jagiroad. It includes four suicides, the union said. The count is maintained by the workers' organisations and has not been independently verified.

The Cachar mill stopped production in October 2015 and the Nagaon mill shut down in March 2017. Both belonged to the Centre-owned HPC, which later went into liquidation.

Dues still the main demand

Chakraborty alleged that years of non-payment of salaries and statutory dues, including provident fund benefits, had pushed workers' families into financial hardship and mental stress. According to him, workers have gone without salaries and other entitlements for 113 months.

The Assam government announced a humanitarian assistance package for the workers after it acquired the mills' assets through the liquidation process. Workers' organisations, however, continue to press for full settlement of their dues and for rehabilitation of affected families.

Chakraborty held the Centre responsible for the workers' situation and appealed to the public to support their demand for justice.

Why it matters

The two mills were once among the largest industrial employers in the Barak Valley and central Assam, and their closure hit thousands of families in Panchgram and Jagiroad. With each death, the unions have renewed their call for the dues to be cleared before more former workers die waiting. NEInsider will follow any response from the state or the Centre.