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Mill lands developed before govt allowed sale, claims workers' body

The Bombay Municipal Corporation and the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority allowed the development of surplus mill land before the Maharashtra government formulated its policy to sell off the same, says the Mill Workers Action Committee, adding it had documentary evidence to back its claim.

The committee was referring to the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party's decision to allow the owners of sick and closed mills in south-central Bombay to sell off their land to allow commercial constructions.

Mill Workers' Action Committee leaders Meena Menon and Gayatri Singh alleged that the state government stayed the sale of land to extort money from the mill owners. They also said the state government granted development rights under the development rates for Bombay to the mill owners during the interim stay itself, in violation of transparency norms. The government has also bypassed the rule granting 33 per cent of the total mill land to MHADA to build low-cost housing.

There is, the committee said, no relation between the mill land sale and the rehabilitation of workers despite the Maharashtra government's promise to link the two. The state government has also not kept its promise, made in October 1996, to consult trade unions before taking any decision regarding the mill land, it pointed out.

The committee alleged that the state government and the mill owners are hiding certain vital facts regarding the sale of the mill land. It said that Kamal Mill has already begun to develop 1,000 square metres of mill land without the state government's approval.

Meanwhile, a highly-placed source in the state secretariat said that permission will be given to the Matulya, Kamala, Rahuvanshi, and Shriram mills to sell their land. The source said the state government will act immediately otherwise it would risk contempt of court under the Sick Industrial Companies Act.

The Mill Workers Action Committee claimed that the state government has taken no action against certain mills not implementing the package designed by the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction. For instance, the New Great Eastern Spinning and Weaving Mill was given permission to develop surplus land under the development control rule 58(1)(A) on July 30, 1997. The mill was allowed to sell extra floor space index of 120,000 square feet at the rate of Rs 1200 per square foot and use the proceeds for its rehabilitation programme. However, only 250 workers came to work.

The government, the committee charges, has misled the people by claiming proper implementation of the BIFR schemes. The company inquest has also failed to allocate the obligatory 33 per cent mill land to MHADA for low-cost housing, in violation of the BIFR scheme.

The committee said the state government is sitting on the Charles Correa Committee report which framed the policies regarding the sale of mill land. A new committee, under the presidentship of Chief Minister Manohar Joshi, formed to look into the previous government's permission allowing sale of mill land, has come out with nothing substantial. The Mill Workers Action Committee has registered its protest with the state government.

Compiled by Prasanna Zorey from the Marathi press