MP Chief Minister approves Rs 464 crore for Hukumchand Mill workers

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Tuesday approved an amount of Rs 464 crore to be given to the Hukumchand mill workers and their families. He signed the related file in the meeting of the Urban Administration Department.

On December 1, a single bench of Justice Subodh Abhyankar of the Indore bench of the High Court had directed the Madhya Pradesh Housing and Infrastructure Development Board (MPHIDB) to deposit Rs 425.89 crore in the no-lien account of the State Bank of India, Bhopal, within three days. Justice Abhyankar passed the order during a hearing into a company petition commonly known as the Hukumchand Mill case on mention of the Labour Union.

Hukumchand Mill, one of the largest mills in Indore, was closed by its management in 1991 without any prior notice. At that time, about 6,000 workers worked in the mill. These workers fought a long struggle for their outstanding salaries, gratuity, and other liabilities. In 2007, the High Court had ordered the payment of Rs 229 crore to the workers. This amount was to be given by selling 42.5 acres of mill land, but the state government banned its sale by declaring the mill land as its own. However, in 2018, the High Court had rejected the state government's claim on this land.

Narendra Srivansh, union leader of Hukumchand Mill, said that the difficulties faced by the workers and their families after the closure of the mill are beyond imagination. Just imagining that three decades ago, six thousand workers became unemployed in a single day shows how dire the situation would have been.

He said that even after such a long time, the workers and their families are happy to receive the money.

It is noteworthy that in the last 33 years, more than 2,000 out of 6,000 workers of the mill have died and the families of many of them are continuing their fight.