More than 4,000 workers of the Sri Krishna Jute Mill is feeling the pinch of the all-power synthetic industry, with the mill management deciding to bring down the production of jute sacks by over 40 per cent for want of demand.
Mill Managing Director Brijgopal Lunani told The Hindu that the management was forced to cut the annual production from 28,700 tonnes to 21,000 tonnes, following a drastic fall in the number of traditional buyers who are shifting to plastic bags. Sri Bajrang Jute Mills in Guntur, an arm of the Sri Krishna Jute, too went the latter’s way by pruning its production from 85 tonnes to 50 tonnes.
Accordingly, the industry has reduced the number of shifts from 21 to 16 in a week at the Sri Krishna Jute Mill. The permanent employees, numbering around 1,000, are getting work for five days a week, while the others such as trainee employees, ‘badili’ workers and apprentices have been denied work. U. Venkateswara Rao of the Indian Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU) said that many of the jute workers were shifting to other sectors, while some preferred to make a living by auto driving.
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The jute industry is protected under the Jute Packaging Materials Act (JPMA), 1987 as part of the government’s endeavour to promote eco-friendly jute products.
But, Union Ministry of Textiles, in a recent meeting of stakeholders, sought to cut jute packaging in food grains by 25-75 per cent and 30-70 per cent in case of sugar as mandated by the Act and withdrawal of mandatory packaging of food grains with jute sacks in a phased manner, allegedly in favour of synthetic industry giants.