Nagaon paper mill to be sold on June 30
HT Correspondent
MORIGAON, June 8: While opposing the sale of Nagaon and Cachar paper mills to private parties, All Tiwa Students’ Union (ATSU) on Tuesday said the student body will not keep silent if the land of indigenous people which was acquisitioned for setting up of the mill, is sold to the private parties.
In a memorandum to Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, the ATSU said the government should stop its bid to sell both the paper mills to private parties.
Putting an end to all questions of revival, the Union government has decided to sell the two paper mills on June 30.
The official notification for the bidding process has been issued stating that the auction will be held online on mtsecommerce.com. The reserve price has been set at Rs 1139 crore. The earnest money deposit amount has been set Rs 55 crore and the minimum incremental is Rs 1 crore.
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has ordered the liquidation of the two paper mills under the Hindustan Paper Corporation Ltd in Assam in May 2019.
“Both Cachar and Nagaon paper mills were able to provide employment to over two lakh people when they were functioning. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home minister Amit Shah had promised us the revival of both the paper mills before the assembly election-2021. But they failed to keep their words. The state government has also turned a deaf ear to it,” ATSU president Dipak Amsong said.
“When a state government like Kerala could revive the Kerala Paper Mill under HPCL, why did the Assam government fail to take initiative for the revival of the two paper mills. Nagaon and Cachar paper mills have more than five thousand bighas of land and many gadgets have been lying in good condition. So why the government is ready to auction the paper mills for just Rs 1,139 crore is mysterious,” Amsong said.
“Over two thousand bighas of land of indigenous people were acquisitioned for setting up the Nagaon paper mill at Jagiroad. If the government sells the public property to private parties, then we will definitely protest the handing over of the tribal lands to private parties,” he said.
“The employees of the paper mills have been deprived of their salaries for over 53 months for which the condition of the employees have worsened and a total of 87 employees died due to lack of proper treatment. We have appealed to the government to stop the auction and demanded the revival of both the mills,” he added.