WB Jute mills dilemma: Permission in hand, workers absent

Though the jute industry in West Bengal has been allowed to resume normal functioning from Monday, the mills are facing major labour crisis as almost 50 per cent of workforce have returned to their home states owing to uncertainty on earnings amid the prolonged lockdown. In spite of pressure from the Centre to execute pending orders, the jute mills on Saturday said they may take at least two to three weeks to ramp up their production to full steam, that too with a rider, migrated workers return to work on time.

That means even as technically mills can work with 100 per cent workers from June 1, but that is not going to happen as industry estimates 50 per cent of their workforce have gone back to their native places. They mainly hail from places in Jharkhand, Bihar and Odhisa, and have returned homes in buses and lorries following uncertainty on earnings during the long lockdown period.

Most of the 59 jute mills in the state engage workers on casual basis that means "no work no pay" to save on costs. "They waited for long for the mills to start normal functioning. Moreover, after initial permission to operate with only 15 per cent, many of them who didn't get a job decided to leave.

"Eid festival and COVID-19 panic also played a role (in their departing for home). "The permission (to resume full-fledged operation) came too late," promoter of a group, who runs multiple jute mills in the state, told PTI on condition of anonymity.

Indian Jute Mills Association Chairman Raghav Gupta also said that "a large chunk" of the workforce have left for their native places during shutdown. "We have decided to ask them to report back to work in 15 days... we have to wait and watch." Asked how will the workers return from far off locations without proper public transport in place, Gupta said the association will take up the matter with the government in this regard.

Sources in the Jute mills said given the job profile of the industry replacing them with the local workers is not easy. During a video-conference interaction with the members of Bharat Chamber of Commerce, Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Anurag Thakur on Saturday responded to the Bengal industries woes of labour shortage and assured to arrange special trains for the workers to return to their workplace.

The minister after listening to persistent problem of availability of labour from the members assured that special trains will be arranged for labourers so that they can return to their workplace, the chamber said in a statement here after the interaction. Thakur, however, requested the industry to take personal initiatives to get in touch with their workers who have left for homes during the lockdown.

Jute is crucial for Bengal's economy as some three lakhs workers are directly dependent on the jute mills. West Bengal is the biggest producer of jute in the country.

Jute mills are largely located in South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas, Hoogly and Howrah districts of the state. The industry, reeling under a supply backlog of jute bags needed for packaging foodgrains in the wake of the lockdown, has welcomed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Friday announcement that jute industry can resume normal functioning with 100 per cent attendance from June 1.

The supply backlog has mounted to 2.5 lakh bales for the current Rabi season as the mills with a reduced workforce have been struggling to meet the requirement for jute bags, an industry official has said. "The backlog is now 2.5 lakh bales. The West Bengal government had given permission to operate with 50 per cent workforce during the lockdown. Now, we are allowed to deploy 100 per cent from June, which is a welcome step.

"Of the 60-odd mills in West Bengal, operations in 10-12 units in North and South 24 Parganas and Howrah were disrupted due to Cyclone Amphan," Gupta said..

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)