Dimapur, July 24 (MExN): The Rising People’s Party (RRP) today stated that the United Democratic Alliance Government of Nagaland should pay the pending salaries of Nagaland Pulp & Paper Company Limited (NPPCL) or Tuli Paper Mill employees.
The RPP “appeals to the conscience of all the 60 legislators, that, the plight of the poor and the hapless people should be the first and foremost priority of any government,” the party said in a press release.
Since the closure of the mill in 1992, its employees have been living a “nightmarish existence,” it said.
Citing newspaper reports, it pointed out that “employees haven’t been paid salary since August 2017 and as of December 2021 the state government owes the paper mill employees Rs. 27. 33 crore.”
The Morung Express on July 22 had reported that as per worker’s account, the liabilities for payment of wages along with the dues for superannuated and deceased employees as assessed up to December 2021 amounted to a sum of Rs 27, 33, 89,777.
In this connection, the RPP wondered how “any government can be so immune to the plight of these employees” for the last 30 years and appealed the UDA coalition government to pay the salaries of mill employees without delay, before the employees proposed agitation on August 12.
The party further implied that the state government could afford to do so as it is allegedly “buying crores worth of top SUVs every month” and at its “disposal thousands of crores earned through GST alone.”
It further cited NPCC President’s allegation that “21 NPF MLAs who were lured into the NDPP were each paid Rs 2.50 Crore, money which was apparently diverted from MNREGA fund,” and asserted that since the UDA Coalition is yet to refute, the “allegation must be true.”
While the ‘Opposition-less Government’ is spending crores making “countless trips to Delhi/Guwahati for ‘Naga solution,” yet it “doesn’t have the money to pay a measly 27 Crore for Tuli employees doesn’t make sense,” the RPP added.
It further urged the state government to have clear-cut policies regarding the future of Tuli Mill.
“If Golden Handshake for the employees is desirable, the government should do it. The UDA Coalition should settle this Issue once and for all,” it added.
