Relief for Bengal's jute farmers, mills as Centre retains

The Centre's decision to maintain the scope of mandatory jute packaging has given a relief to the mills and farmers producing the golden fibre in West Bengal, the industry body sources said on Wednesday. The decision taken by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, mandates that 100 per cent of the foodgrains and 20 per cent of sugar will be mandatorily packed in diversified jute bags for 2019-20.

The government has retained the scope of mandatory packaging norms under the Jute Packaging Material (JPM) Act, 1987 as per last year, Indian Jute Mills Association sources said. The decision to pack sugar in diversified jute bags will give an impetus to the diversification of the industry, a government statement said.

There had been some apprehensions that the mandatory jute packaging order might get diluted because of political differences between BJP-led Centre and the TMC government in West Bengal, sources said. Nearly 3.7 lakh workers and several lakh farm families are dependent for their livelihood on the jute sectors and most of them are in West Bengal, they said.

"We welcome the decision. This will help the environment-friendly sector to thrive," jute sector's veteran Sanjay Kajaria said..