A retired employee of the Cachar Paper Mill passed away at a private nursing home in Silchar on Thursday.

The deceased, Mohan Josowara, 60, who worked in the mill as a heavy vehicle driver, retired from service in October 2019.

He was one of the mill employees, who like his colleagues, had not received his salary for over three years. He was a resident of Radharani Colony, Panchgram, in Hailakandi district.

According to sources, Josowara was suffering from kidney-related ailments for the past many months, but could not afford proper medical treatment due to severe financial problems. As a result, he wasted away with time.

On Wednesday, he was taken to a private nursing home in Silchar after his condition worsened immensely. He breathed his last on Thursday evening. His death was confirmed at 5.50pm.

Josowara is survived by his wife and five daughters. Two of the daughters are married, sources said.

Dipak Chandra Nath, the general secretary of the Cachar Paper Mill Officers and Supervisors’ Association, told The Telegraph on Friday that many employees have died after the mill became non-functional, mostly because of destitution, trauma and lack of medical treatment.

However, the government has been totally indifferent.

“It is really painful to see that the mill’s employees are dying one after another, but there is absolutely no response from the government,” he rued.

Lashing out at the government, Nath said the government had many times given assurances of reviving the mill and paying the employees’ pending salaries, but nothing has been done till date. “The spree of deaths will continue until the government comes forward and remits the dues of the employees,” he said.

Cachar Paper Mill is the only industry in south Assam’s Barak Valley. It has been lying non-functional since October 2015 and its employees have not received their salaries for the past 39 months.

Manabendra Chakraborty, the president of the Cachar Paper Project Workers’ Union, said it is extremely unfortunate that the mill’s employees are dying without treatment, completely because of the lackadaisical attitude of the government.

“This senseless, blind, deaf and dumb government is totally responsible for this tragic death-show,” he said.

He said altogether 64 employees and many other retired employees have died, mostly because of financial crunch. He appealed for necessary measures at the earliest to save the mill and its employees.