Board trying to solve Birgunj Sugar Mill row

KATHMANDU, FEB 18:

Public Enterprises Directorate Board (PEDB) is trying to settle the retirement dispute between employees at Birgunj Sugar Mill and its management.

As many as 193 employees have been refusing to resign even after 10 years of the factory being closed, said joint secretary at the finance ministry Khum Raj Punjali, adding that representatives from the board and employees are closer to a consensus.

Employees have been demanding payment of their salary and other benefits in line with what they used to receive when the company was in operation, said Punjali, adding that the government wants to provide the employees with only the minimum remuneration for the period that the factory was closed.

The board and the employees have agreed to adopt a middle path to settle the dispute, he said.

The ministry has calculated a tentative amount totalling Rs 80 million that it will pay to employees for the complete compulsory retirement of all 193 employees, he informed, adding that it is expected that employees will follow the government’s retirement policy this time.

The government has failed to initiate the process of operating the factory in collaboration with the private sector due to problems associated with existing employees.

The board had recommended the government to not invest in the factory and allow the private sector to run it. It has also recommended the government that a private player can operate the sugar mill and its subsidiaries like alcohol products by utilising the existing infrastructure of the mill.

The government had decided to dissolve the state-owned Birgunj Sugar Mill in 2007 citing lack of profit. Due to its closure, farmers of Parsa district have been forced to take their sugarcane –– which amounts to 50,000 metric tonnes –– for crushing to nearby districts.

Meanwhile, a team from Public Enterprises Directorate Board has been holding discussions with employees and locals to solve the dispute. “The team will discuss with employees and try to find a common ground to settle the retirement related dispute,” said Punjali, adding that it will also discuss with local industrialists and other stakeholders to bring a new investor.

The country witnessed an increment of 35.51 per cent rise in sugar production in 2003, but in the year 2004, the increment slowed down to 3.45 per cent due to political bickering and farmer-management dispute.

This year too, the sugarcane farmer inRautahat district are preparing for another round of protest program after sugar mills declined to pay Rs 481 for a quintal of sugarcane as per the agreement between the farmers and mills recently.

Source: THT