HPC mill employees asked to vacate quarters

A recent order by the liquidator to occupants of all quartersof Hindustan Paper Corporation Limited to vacate by January 31, 2020, has "setthe ball rolling" for the company's liquidation, according to the NationalCompany Law Tribunal order in November.

On behalf of liquidator Kuldeep Verma, the authorities issueda notice to the around 900 HPC mill employees to vacate their quarters byJanuary 31, 2020.

The state government has allegedly failed to keep the roofsover the heads of around 900 HPC employees' families intact, let alone revivingthe two mills.

'So long our 36-month arrears salaries and other benefits are paid, we're not going to leave our quarters. If the government uses forces to vacate the quarters, they'll have to do it over our bodies', president of the Joint Action Committee of Recognized Union of Nagaon and Cachar Paper Mills, Manobendra Chakravarty said.

The CacharPaper Mill at Panchgram in Hailakandi district and Nagaon Paper Mill atJagiroad in Morigaon district have been non-functional since October 2015 andMarch 2017 respectively. The mill workers have not received salaries for 35 and33 months respectively.