A tripartite meeting on the ongoing crisis in the jute industry was held in New Delhi on Monday and according to Indian Jute Mills Association (IJMA) the meeting was ‘positive’.
Sources at IJMA said Ministry of Textiles Secretary deliberated in detail on both issues of price fixation of raw jute and the implementation of tariff commission’s report. “The meeting was positive. The secretary will discuss the matter with the Minister,” the source said.
Meanwhile, the State’s Labour Secretary attended the meeting on behalf of the government of West Bengal. The State government’s representative opposed the idea of maximum price on agricultural products like jute. The State government also demanded that there should be 100% reservation for packaging of food grains and sugar with jute bags. “The govt. of WB attended today’s meeting on jute in New Delhi. The WB govt praised the labourers of jute industry stating they do not strike even though they are suffering and WB govt. under leadership of CM Mamata Banerjee is committed to their upliftment,” State Labour Minister Becharam Manna said on social media explaining the government stand on the issues.
With almost a dozen of jute mills closing down in the State and about 60,000 workers out of work, the meeting was eagerly anticipated among several stakeholders of the industry.
BJP MP from Barrackpore Arjun Singh, who has been vocal about the crisis in the jute industry, said the meeting was fruitful. “The issues raised by me on raw jute price ceiling and tariff commission were discussed in detail in the meeting between the (Union) Textile Secretary and the representative of the government of West Bengal today, the meeting was very positive. Textile Secretary will speak to Union Minister@Piyush Goyal on these issues,” Mr. Singh tweeted.
A few days ago, Mr. Singh had called on the Union Textile Minister in Delhi and raised issues concerning the sector. According to jute mill owners, the decision of the Jute Commissioner to cap the maximum price of raw jute at ₹6,500 per quintal has exacerbated the crisis of the labour intensive industry.
