GUWAHATI, Jan 2: They haven’t seen any celebration in their houses for a long long time. And, this year, the situation has only been worse; so much so that children — both school and college students —- have been forced to take to the streets, not to protest but to beg, literally.
A group of students, children of Panchgram paper mill employees, took to the streets of Hailakandi today carrying placards and containers and ‘begged’ from pedestrians and passers-by.
The apparent motive was to highlight the situation employees and family members of the two Hindustan Paper Corporation Limited-run paper mills have been after being denied salaries for the past 36 months.
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Some of them even said that they will have to really beg if they are to continue with their studies.
“What can we do? We can’t ask for money from our parents. My father and other employees of the two paper mills have not got his salaries for more than three years. Imagine what out condition could be?” a student said, tears rolling down her cheeks.
Despite repeated assurances from the government of good news coming their way, employees and their families have only been made to face the worse.
“After being denied salaries for 36 months, we have now been slapped with notices asking us to vacate our quarters by the end of this month. This is inhuman. Where will we go? How will we continue with our studies?” another young student said.
The students also met Algapur MLA Nizam Uddin Choudhury and sought his help in amileorating their woes.
“A new year has been the same for us for the past many years. We don’t know what celebrations are; have not been part of any fun and merriment. We want our genuine demands met. That’s all we can ask for,” a student told the legislator.
