No end to woes of sugar mill workers

Samastipur: The government may have earned kudos from several quarters for its decision to either revive the closed sugar mills or establish other industrial units on the premises of these mills, but the people of Samastipur, especially those who were rendered jobless after the closure of these mills, are still a dejected lot.
The government has so far not been able to establish any industry on the closed Samastipur sugar mill premises. Even though the Bihar cabinet had decided to hand over the mill premises to a private party more than four years ago, no industry has come up so far on the sprawling mill campus which is located in the heart of the town.
Samastipur sugar mill became defunct in 1997. When Nitish Kumar assumed office as chief minister in alliance with BJP in 2005, the farmers of the district and the jobless workers became hopeful that the mill would be revived. In 2012, the government decided to hand over the mill premises to Kolkata-based Winsom International Limited on lease for 60 years for Rs 28.77 crore. The government also decided to clear the arrears of the mill workers from more than Rs 14 crore it received from the company. However, the mill premise is yet to be handed over to the company for unknown reasons. General secretary of Rajkiya Lok Upkram Karmachari Mahasangh, Bihar, Shashibhushan Sharma said the mill workers hardly benefited from the amount the government received from the Kolkata-based company.
He added that many mill workers have died prematurely due to lack of treatment.
CPI-ML (Liberation) leader Surendra Prasad Singh said instead of harping on prohibition, the government should realise the plight of poor mill workers and farmers and initiate welfare measures for them.