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Bengal undecided on allowing jute mills to operate
KOLKATA: A day after the ministry of food and public distribution wrote to the West Bengal government, requesting them to immediately direct the jute mills to start
KOLKATA: A day after the ministry of food and public distribution wrote to the West Bengal government, requesting them to immediately direct the jute mills to start operations to meet the increased demand of jute bales, the state government remained undecided on Saturday.
Bengal is the country’s biggest hub of jute industry and about 60 mills in the sector directly employ nearly 2 lakh people. Another 40 lakh jute growers are dependent on orders from the industry.
“We have received no instruction from the state government yet. Earlier in March, we too had written to the state government, urging it to allow us to function. We hope a decision would be arrived at on Monday,” said Raghavendra Gupta, chairman of Indian Jute Mills Association.
Chief secretary Rajiva Sinha did not respond to questions sent via text messages and WhatsApp asking if the government had taken any decision in this regard. Labour minister Malay Ghatak did not take repeated calls.
Jute Commissioner of India (JCI) Moloy Chandan Chakraborty said he did not receive any communication from the state government asking the mills to start functioning. The food and public distribution ministry’s letter to the West Bengal chief secretary was also marked to the JCI.
In his letter to the chief secretary, dated April 3, E K Majhi, additional secretary at the ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution wrote that the government of Punjab and the Food Corporation of India (FCI) had stated about shortage of jute bales due to the nonfunctioning of the jute mills since the beginning of the lockdown in March.
“It is of utmost importance that jute mills immediately resume their operations for manufacturing/dispatch of jute bales to meet the requirements of the State Procurement Agencies/FCI,” Majhi wrote.
“I shall, therefore, earnestly request your indulgence to direct jute mills to immediately start manufacturing/ supply of jute bales so that during the peak procurement period, procurement operations of government are not disrupted due to shortage of jute bags,” the letter said.
It also stated that there could be additional requirements of jute bales this year.
Jute is one of Bengal’s largest labour-intensive industries and the mills are located in the districts around Kolkata – Howrah, Hooghly, North 24-Parganas and South 24-Parganas.
A senior government officer posted at the state secretariat said on Saturday, requesting anonymity, that the state government wanted to have an informal discussion with leaders of prominent trade unions before asking to start operations.
“We do not want to pressurize the state government. It is a sensitive situation, where a fine balance needs to be struck between procurement of food and safety of mill workers. The state has been advised and we hope they would arrive at the best judgment,” said a senior official at the ministry of textile who did not want to be named.
