With nearly 75,000 workers thrown out of their jobs following work suspension at nearly a quarter of the jute mills in West Bengal, a group of four Ministers of the Mamata Banerjee government had a long meeting with the mill managements, the industry association and the jute commissioner in a bid to resolve the crisis.
The GoM present at the meeting were Finance and Commerce Minister Amit Mitra, Agriculture Minister Purnendu Basu, Labour Minister Moloy Ghatak, Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Subrata Mukherjee. Industry representatives of IJMA and non-IJMA led by Raghavendra Gupta, Chairman, Indian Jute Mills Association were also present.
Referring to the current demand crisis, which has precipitated the entire situation the industry’s plea to the government to ensure packing of paddy in jute sacks (as mandated by an Act) was received well by the government and may see a tripartite meeting between the government, the industry and the rice mill owners next week.
