Workers of Tuli Paper Mill struggle to make ends meet

Workers claim they have been abandoned like ‘orphans without a parent’ 

Mongsentong Longkumer 
Dimapur | July 22

On the night of September 31, 1992, T Mar, an assistant operator of one of the head-box paper machines at the Tuli Paper Mill, recalled he was informed by management that the factory would be temporarily halting production for ‘maintenance’ work. He was part of the ‘B’ shift that began their duty from 2:00 pm to 10:00 pm.

However, as October rolled over, several national papers began to put out reports that the mill had completely ceased paper production. 

“So from then on, most people were informed that the mill stopped its operations from the month of October 1992,” he said. 

Joint-venture gone astray
The Tuli Paper Mill or Nagaland Pulp & Paper Company Limited (NPPCL) was a joint venture between Hindustan Paper Corporation Limited (HPCL), a Government of India (GoI) Enterprise, which is now defunct, and the Government of Nagaland. It was first conceptualised in 1971 for the socio-economic upliftment of the people of Nagaland.

After only a period of 10 years or so from 1982 to 1992, the mill had stopped the production of paper for various reasons, and it was subsequently referred to the BIFR (Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction) in 1992.

Since then, several futile attempts were made to revive the factory starting with BIFR’s approval to restructure the mill by infusing Rs 552.44 crore in May 2007. This was followed by the Union Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises releasing Rs 54.50 crore as first phase of revival amount in September 2007, and out of this, an amount of Rs 36.76 crore was spent by the HPCL/NPPCL during 2007 to 2009.

Most recently, Tuli MLA Amenba Yaden brought up the matter during the budget session of the 11th Nagaland Legislative Assembly in March 2022. He said another revised Detail Project Report (DPR) was submitted to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) in March 2009 for granting an amount of Rs 679 crore. The Ministry then released Rs 100 crore to the then Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD) of HPCL in September 2013, but out of this, an amount of Rs 60 crore was diverted to ‘other heads’ for their vested interests resulting in total stoppage of the rehabilitation scheme for NPPCL, Yaden told the House then.

Orphans without a parent 
Substantiating this, Mar confirmed that there were several plans and efforts made for the revival of NPPCL over the years but nothing has come of it till today.

“We are like orphans without a parent. HPCL has been liquidated and the State government is at a loss for action, everything seems so hopeless,” he lamented.

Mar retired from service on June 30 this year. “As I am old and unable to do any other manual work, the money that my children sends us from time to time is what’s sustaining us today,” he shared, adding that several other workers have been surviving by taking up manual work, or doing odd jobs as electricians and repairmen. 

Like Mar, many of the NPPCL workers have not been paid their salaries from August 2017 till today while superannuated employees and employees who died in harness have not received their terminal/retiral/pensionary dues from the month of September 2015. 

As a result, a Joint Action Committee (JAC) comprising members of both the workers’ and pensioners’ unions of NPPCL, have planned a protest along the NH-61 at Tzudikong on August 12, 2022. 

No option for legal recourse
For Noklenlemba, who lives in Tuli town, prior to the shutdown, he was employed as an assistant in the accounts department. He revealed that his retirement came to effect in 2018 without receiving any retirement benefits or the salary for his working period. “I have three children all of whom are married, so they take care of us along with some help from my relatives,” he shared. 

Prior to the liquidation of HPCL, Longkumer recalled that he along with his colleagues had hoped that the paper mill would be revived. However as things stand today, it was unlikely that would ever happen, he rued. 

On being asked why they hadn’t taken legal recourse, he reasoned that the unpredictable nature of the outcome and the possibility that case might drag on, deterred them from taking such a move. 

“Who knows, the court would take another 10-15 years to give the verdict, which by that time it would be too late. Plus, if it was made ‘subjudice’ then it would’ve been a huge blow to our cause as well,” he added.

Subjudice in legal terms means that if a matter is put before a court, the same matter cannot be brought before another court by the same parties (section 10 of the Civil Procedure Code).

The workers of NPPCL allege that 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. 

He also said that the union had approached various government entities through open letters in the past including the CBI, Vigilance Commission, New Delhi without any response. 

Surviving on government subsidies
Another worker Talingangshi Jamir, a mechanic for 38 years said that along with him, some of the workers engaged in providing water supply and electricity to Tzudikong town area, still regularly perform their duties even without any pay. 

“The Mokokchung DC had earlier assured to address our injustices but nothing has come of it till today,” he claimed, referring to a protest staged back in 2017.

He highlighted that the struggle is immense for them as they subsist only on government rations. 

“We have been surviving only on government rations and borrowing money from our relatives and neighbours,” said Chubaangshi Longkumer, a father of four children and resident of Tuli. He was employed as a paper attendant at the mill.

 “We understand that even the Naga public is fed up with this issue as it is dragging on for too long without seeing any positive results,” he noted.

Longkumer also lamented that many of the workers have passed away without having the means to even get access to proper healthcare facilities due to the lack of money. 

“No one in the government is there to listen to our grievances.”

Despite the grimness, the NPPCL employees cling to the glimmer of hope that some sort of government intervention would give them reprieve like it did for their counterparts in the defunct HPCL mills in the state of Assam. 

Earlier on July 7, the Assam government had agreed to spend about Rs 810 crores to resolve the issues concerning the two defunct paper mills of HPCL at Jagiroad and Panchgram even though they had no stake in it.

“Just give us our dues. That is all that we are asking from the government,” Longkumer asserted. 

Till then, the proposed August 12 agitation will go on indefinitely till the demands of the employees are met, they said.