Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said that he will soon convene a meeting to discuss the measures to be initiated to rejuvenate the Mysore Paper Mills (MPM), a public sector undertaking, at Bhadravati.
The production at MPM has been stopped for the last few months, following a notice issued by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) for the alleged failure of the firm to abide by the pollution control norms. The firm was also incurring loss for the past few years. There was a demand from trade union leaders to release funds for modernisation of the firm. A meeting to discuss these issues would soon be convened with senior officials of Major Industries and Finance departments, elected representatives of the district and representatives of the MPM labour union, Mr. Siddaramaiah told presspersons at the helipad in Bhadravati on Saturday. To a query on the progress of work on the construction of airport near Shivamogga, Mr. Siddaramaiah said, it had come to a halt owing to differences of opinion between the partners of a joint venture firm, which had bagged the contract. The State government had recently annulled the land allotment for the joint venture firm. The government would take appropriate measures to recommence the work, he added.
A delegation of workers serving on contract basis at MPM submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister, requesting him to address their problems. Ravikumar, a trade union leader, said that 54 contract workers serving at the paper production unit of MPM were suffering due to lay-off, following suspension of production as per the direction issued by CPCB. As the production had resumed now, these workers should be re-instated, he said.
M.J. Appaji, Bhadravathi MLA, was present.
Action will be taken to restart work on airport construction
near Shivamogga:
Chief MinisterSiddaramaiah
