Provisional VRS announced for Mysore Paper Mills employees

Citing the losses incurred by MPM, the government halted production in November 2015.

With a majority of the workers of Mysore Paper Mills (MPM), a State-owned enterprise in Bhadravathi, consenting to the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) and severance package proposed by the State government, the management of the firm has announced a provisional VRS.

In an official memorandum released on August 4, the management invited applications from workers for the VRS titled ‘MPM Special VR Scheme-2017 (Provisional)’ . Employees can apply till August 21.

The decision on announcement of VRS was taken at the 556th meeting of the MPM management board on July 28. The State government had announced allocation of ₹400 crore for VRS and severance package for permanent and non-permanent employees of the firm.

The MPM Workers’ Association had conducted a referendum on the proposal on July 17. Of the 930 permanent non-officer workers who were eligible to vote, 538 voted in favour of VRS, 138 voted against it, and three votes were rejected. The remaining 251 workers did not vote.

C.S. Shivamurthy, president of the association, told The Hindu that the members subsequently submitted a report on the referendum to the management as well as the Department of Commerce and Industries.

Benefits

The official memorandum states that July 31, 2017 will be considered the cut-off date for calculation of benefits.

Along with the VRS amount, employees will get dearness allowance, gratuity, superannuation benefits, leave encashment, bonus and wage for the period of denied work, and compulsory leave. Payment of the pending amount with regard to wage revision for the period from March 2012 to July 2017 is subject to the outcome of the case in the Department of Labour.

The MPM management said the VRS announced is provisional and subject to approval by the State government. The management will apprise the government of the response to the scheme, and based on this the government will take a final call. In the official memorandum, the management also stated that if employees do not opt for VRS, the firm will have no option but to go for liquidation.

Citing the losses incurred by MPM, the State government had halted production in November 2015 and sent workers on mandatory leave. The workforce is at 2,409, including 1,102 permanent employees (930 non-officers and 172 officers) and 1,307 contract employees.