"What is the stand of the state? We want to know if there is any rehabilitation scheme (for former textile workers)," said a bench headed by Justice Abhay Oka.
The HC was hearing a petition filed by Girni Kamgar Sanghatana, the textile workers union which was once headed by veteran trade union leader late Datta Samant.
Most of the textile mills in Mumbai and elsewhere in the state have closed down for various reasons more than two decades ago. The vast tracts of mill lands are now valued at a high price because of their prime location. The unions have been demanding rehabilitation of workers saying they had lost their livelihood.
While the government has been asked to place on record the proposed rehabilitation scheme of textile workers, if any, MHADA has been directed to furnish information such as how many tenements have been constructed so far and how many textile workers have been allotted houses. Also, what criteria has been followed in the allotments? the high court asked.
In Mumbai alone, about 600 acres of mill land is available for redevelopment which may fetch hundreds of crores to the owners of textile mills, says the petition and demands that workers should be suitably compensated by giving them a small portion of the land to rehabilitate them.