{"id":134645,"date":"2025-02-05T18:30:45","date_gmt":"2025-02-05T13:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/assamtimespost.in\/?p=134645"},"modified":"2025-02-05T18:30:45","modified_gmt":"2025-02-05T13:00:45","slug":"tragic-loss-at-assam-hpc-paper-mills-shocking-death-toll-rises-to-131","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/assamtimespost.com\/?p=134645","title":{"rendered":"Tragic Loss at Assam HPC Paper Mills: Shocking Death Toll Rises to 131"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-134375\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assamtimespost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/New-Logo-Smal-4.jpg?resize=187%2C52&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"187\" height=\"52\" \/><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 24pt;\">I<\/span>n Cachar, Assam, the <a href=\"https:\/\/assamtimespost.com\/?p=8496\">Hindustan Paper Corporation<\/a> (HPC) Paper Mills have witnessed yet another tragic death, as worker Phani Bhusan Barman, 58, succumbed to a prolonged illness on January 31, bringing the death toll to 131. The paper mill, previously a government-run corporation, is now managed by the Assam government. However, employees have been suffering immense hardships, as they have not received salaries or provident funds for over 95 months despite deductions from their wages.<\/span><\/h4>\n<figure id=\"attachment_134646\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-134646\" style=\"width: 1919px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/Tragic Loss at Assam HPC Paper Mills: Shocking Death Toll Rises to 131\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-134646 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assamtimespost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Paper-mill.jpg?resize=1919%2C1200&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Tragic Loss at Assam HPC Paper Mills: Shocking Death Toll Rises to 131\" width=\"1919\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assamtimespost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Paper-mill.jpg?w=1919&amp;ssl=1 1919w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assamtimespost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Paper-mill.jpg?resize=300%2C188&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assamtimespost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Paper-mill.jpg?resize=1024%2C640&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assamtimespost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Paper-mill.jpg?resize=768%2C480&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assamtimespost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Paper-mill.jpg?resize=1536%2C961&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assamtimespost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Paper-mill.jpg?resize=750%2C469&amp;ssl=1 750w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assamtimespost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Paper-mill.jpg?resize=1140%2C713&amp;ssl=1 1140w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-134646\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tragic Loss at Assam HPC Paper Mills: Shocking Death Toll Rises to 131<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">This dire situation persists despite the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal\u2019s directive to release provident funds, leaving workers unable to access essential resources for critical needs like medical treatment. This neglect has resulted in irreversible consequences, including five sudden deaths since September 2024, with four suicides reported among them. Workers attribute these tragedies to inhumane conditions and lack of governmental support, which have led to unbearable stress and despair.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Barman\u2019s death leaves his family\u2014his wife and four children\u2014without income, highlighting the human cost of this ongoing crisis. As workers and their families demand accountability from the government for what they call inhumane and hostile treatment, the situation at the HPC Paper Mills is increasingly described as a \u201cValley of Death.\u201d This term underscores the perceived failure of the Government of India to effectively address the crisis, resulting in significant harm.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Community appeals are growing, urging both national and international audiences to raise their voices in support of the workers. They are calling for justice and a humane resolution that ensures the payment of long-overdue salaries, the resolution of provident fund issues, and the prevention of future suffering for coming generations. Workers at the HPC Paper Mills are fervently calling on the public to demand justice and meaningful change to end the perilous conditions that have claimed so many lives.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In Cachar, Assam, the Hindustan Paper Corporation (HPC) Paper Mills have witnessed yet another tragic death, as worker Phani Bhusan Barman, 58, succumbed to a prolonged illness on January 31, bringing the death toll to 131. The paper mill, previously a government-run corporation, is now managed by the Assam government. However, employees have been suffering [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":134646,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","jnews_video_option_group":[[]],"override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"bottom","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_reading_time":"1","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"1","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"2","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"1"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-715","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":"News Desk :"},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[200],"tags":[40791,59,40778,40792,40782,40801,40790,40787,40775,40789,40785,40798,40793,40783,40794,40779,40776,40796,40781,40795,40786,40800,40780,40799,40788,40777,40784,40797],"class_list":["post-134645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-assam","tag-accountability-demand","tag-assam","tag-assam-government-management","tag-community-appeals-for-justice","tag-employee-hardships","tag-employee-welfare-issues","tag-family-of-deceased-worker","tag-government-support-failure","tag-hpc-paper-mills-cachar","tag-human-cost-of-crisis","tag-inhumane-conditions","tag-labor-conditions-in-assam","tag-national-and-international-support","tag-national-company-law-appellate-tribunal","tag-overdue-salaries","tag-paper-mill-wages-issue","tag-phani-bhusan-barman-death","tag-prevention-of-suffering","tag-provident-fund-crisis","tag-resolution-of-provident-funds","tag-suicide-among-workers","tag-tragic-worker-deaths","tag-unpaid-salaries","tag-urgent-call-for-change","tag-valley-of-death-hpc","tag-worker-fatalities","tag-worker-medical-treatment","tag-workers-rights"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":157369,"url":"https:\/\/assamtimespost.com\/?p=157369","url_meta":{"origin":134645,"position":0},"title":"Cachar Police (Assam) Seize 34,400 Foreign Cigarette Packs, Arrest Two","author":"News Desk","date":"August 25, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Cachar Police seized 34,400 packs of foreign-made cigarettes and arrested two alleged smugglers during an operation near the Balachara toll gate on the Silchar\u2013Haflong National Highway. 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