Another Assam paper mill employee passes away; toll rises to 77

GUWAHATI:

An ailing employee of Nagaon Paper Mill in central Assam passed away at Guwahati Medical College Hospital here on Saturday evening, taking the death toll of employees of both Nagaon and Cachar paper mills, which is non-functional since the past few years, to 77.

Nirod Chandra Kalita (56), who was suffering from liver-related ailments for several months, was referred to Guwahati Medical College and Hospital from Jagiroad Civil Hospital a few days back.

“He could not get specialised treatment and passed away yesterday evening,” Manobendra Chakraborty, the president of Joint Action Committee of Recognised Unions (JACRU) of the two paper mills, confirmed on Sunday.

Kalita was the second employee of Nagaon Paper Mill to have died without proper medical treatment in the past ten days. Another employee of the mill, Dwijen Dutta (56), had died after suffering a cerebral stroke on December 6.

The Cachar Paper Mill at Panchgram in Hailakandi district and Nagaon Paper Mill at Jagiroad in Morigaon district - both units of Hindustan Paper Corporation Limited - have been non-functional since October 2015 and March 2017, respectively.

Employees of the mills have not been paid their salaries for the past 47 and 45 months, respectively.

Chakraborty rued the fact that many employees have died because of the government's "negligence and false promises" to revive the mills and remit the employees’ salaries.

(Edited by Laxmi Chyrmang)