The Bhadravati bandh call given by various trade unions on Tuesday urging the government to initiate measures to revive Mysore Paper Mills (MPM), a public sector undertaking, evoked good response.
Commercial establishments, including shops and hotels, remained closed on the day. Trading had been suspended at the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee yard. Workers of the Mysore Paper Mills, members of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha and other organisations took out a motorcycle rally in the main streets of the city as part of the protest.
Addressing a protest meet later, freedom fighter H.S. Doreswamy urged the State government to release funds needed for modernising the paper mill. Antiquated production technology was blamed for the loss suffered by the paper mill. A comprehensive action plan should be prepared in consultation with experts on the ways to modernise the organisation. The MPM management should take the workers into confidence during the process of modernisation. The State government should direct its establishments and departments to purchase paper from MPM, he said.
C.F. Shivamurthy, president of MPM Employees’ Association, said in his address that out of the four boilers at MPM, only one was operational at present. As a result, production was not at expected levels. The government should initiate appropriate measures to secure permission from the National Green Tribunal for operating the remaining boilers, which would help enhance production, he said.
The organisation could be brought back on the path of profit by utilising the raw materials generated at its captive plants in a scientific manner. The byproducts of the sugar factory of MPM should be properly utilised by creating necessary infrastructure for co-generation of electricity. Possibilities of running a distillery and producing ethanol and fertilizers from the by-products of sugarcane should be explored, he said.
B.K. Sangameshwar, former MLA; Ravikrishna Reddy of Aam Aadmi Party; Sirimane Nagaraj, social activist; and others were present.
