Stand-up comedian Abhineet Mishra has decided to provide financial support to 20 employees of Hindustan Paper Corporation Ltd who are unable to continue medical treatment because of financial problems.

Joint Action Committee of Recognised Unions president Manabendra Chakraborty told The Telegraph on Thursday that they spoke to Mishra and apprised him of the condition of the mill employees, especially those suffering from various ailments but not been able to continue treatment because of financial crisis. Mishra, who had raised the mills’ issue on social media in the past, came up with the idea of collecting money through crowd-funding and helping some of the employees in dire need of medical treatment, Chakraborty said.

Cachar Paper Mill at Panchgram in Hailakandi district and Nagaon Paper Mill at Jagiroad in Morigaon district, both HPC units, have been defunct since October 2015 and March 2017 respectively. Their employees have not received salaries for 39 and 37 months respectively. According to the mills’ unions, at least 64 employees have died since the two mills stopped functioning, mostly because of poverty, trauma and lack of medical treatment.

Chakraborty said those employees in need of urgent treatment may apply with proper documents, doctor’s prescriptions, bank account details (including IFSC code and up-to-date transaction statement page) and any other supporting documents through WhatsApp by April 25. For Cachar Paper Mill, the contact number is 8721980016 (Manabendra Chakraborty’s number), while that for Nagaon Paper Mill is 9101242882 (Ananda Bordoloi, committee secretary).

All the applications will be scrutinised and subsequently forwarded to Mishra. The money will be deposited in the selected employees’ accounts via bank transfer. The amount of money has not been disclosed yet, he said. Ten employees will be chosen from Cachar Paper Mill and 10 from Nagaon Paper Mill, Chakraborty added.

Dipak Chandra Nath, general secretary of Cachar Paper Mill Officers and Supervisors’ Association, appreciated that someone had come forward to support the employees, who have been suffering for years. “It is very unfortunate that the government, which should have been pro-active to alleviate the sufferings of the employees, has been completely apathetic,” Nath said.

“If some more people like Mishra step forward and help us, the situation will get a bit better. The initiative by Mishra deserves appreciation,” he said.

He appealed to the government to take prompt measures and release the employees’ dues.