HPC Panchgram on the brink of closure

Hindustan Paper Corporation (HPC), Cachar unit, situated at Panchgram near Badarpur is in dire strait and likely to be closed very soon. The Board of Directors of the company and the nominated director had a meeting on August 28 last, with suppliers of coal and bamboos, which raised a suspicion that the factory would be closed very soon. Although the details of the meeting were not made public, the president of the Panchgram Citizens Rights Protection Committee (PCRPC), Saidur Rahman Barbhuya, confirmed that a meeting was held between the management and the businessmen.

He further said that Partha Dhar, the nominated director by the Union minister Santosh Mohan Dev, was also present in the meeting. It is learnt that the suppliers of coal informed the management that the coal from Meghalaya was not available at the rate fixed by the paper mill and for a good quality of coal the price has to be revised upwards. But the management did not agree on this point. On the other hand the management announced that no coal supplier would be allowed to supply more than two truckloads of coal per day. Since the mill's requirement of coal per day is about 550 - 600 truckloads per day and each coal supplier earlier used to supply 8-10 truckload material daily .

According to the list of registered coal suppliers of the HPC about 250-300 truckload of coal can enter the mill as per recent decision of the Board. At this rate of supply the production would automatically come down. Panchgram Citizens Rights Protection Committee (PCRPC) has doubt about the intention of the management.

Saidur Rahman Barbhuya, the PCRPC chief, said that the supply of bamboos to the mill has also come down. Total requirement of bamboo is about 120 truckloads per day. At present the mill is getting only 50 to55 truckloads of bamboo daily. It is alleged that a bamboo supplier of North Cachar Hills district continues supply of bamboo to other states instead of this paper mill. Not a single piece of bamboo now comes to the mill from N C Hills.

Rahman alleged that the management has given order for supply of bamboos to two suppliers of Mizoram without calling a tender notice. The value of the order is Rs.62 lakh and Rs 23 lakh. This action of the management is in the complete violation of rules. According to the management this transaction is only on trial basis. Further the rules for the trial basis order should not be over Rupees one lakh. Hence this is purely violation of Government rules. He has already pointed out this fact to the nominated director Partha Dhar. The activities going on in the paper mill clearly show that the factory is going to be closed again. It may be mentioned that the stalemate in this paper mill is continuing for a long time.