The employees of the ailing Mawmluh Cherra Cements Ltd (MCCL) are in total darkness regarding the steps the Meghalaya government will take to revive the struggling state-owned enterprise.
Speaking to this reporter, President of the MCCL labour union, Shanlang Diengdoh, said that a letter from the workers’ representatives had been sent to the state government last month but no response has yet been received.
The company has been bleeding money for years and all attempts at putting it back on track have so far failed. The latest government plan is to partially privatise the corporation, something that many employees are ardently opposed to.
MCCL workers are receiving some financial assistance but not their regular salaries, which the company is unable to meet thanks to the poor state of its finances.
“We are in a dilemma as to what the future holds for us because we have mouths to feed and bills to pay but our situation has only gone from bad to worse,” Diengdoh said. “I appeal to the state government, including the management and all the concerned stakeholders of the MCCL that they should speed up whatever they are planning to do and not to delay this matter any further because this is concerning the life and death of the employees working here and we are the ones suffering the most.”
The union’s executive committee will meet soon to discuss the matter, he added.
