Jute Commissioner asked to raid raw jute hoarders

KOLKATA: The Labour department on Friday asked the Jute Commissioner to start immediate raids on raw jute hoarders to prevent further closure of the jute mills and pave the way for reopening of 16 closed jute mills in the state.

"We have given June 10 as an ultimatum to the illegal hoarders before which they will send raw jute to the mills. The Jute Commissioner will conduct a de-hoarding drive after that and the department will offer full administrative support in the process," state Labour minister Becharam Manna said.

The minister on Friday held a virtual meeting with all stakeholders and reiterated that the state will have zero tolerance against balers or traders who are holding raw jute to ensure equitable availability in the jute mills.

The balers have claimed at the meeting that there are 1.5 lakh bales currently in stock while as per intelligence input of the department this stock is actually in between 3 lakh to 5 lakh bales.

"Our state government is committed towards the protection of the jute mills and workers," Manna said. The minister is hopeful that the drastic steps initiated will suffice the functioning of the jute mills at least for the next 45 days to two months following which the new crop will hit the market by July end or beginning of August .The state government has raised the maximum workforce criteria of the jute mills from 30 to 40 per cent with effect from June 1. There are sixty operational jute mills in the state among which 16 odd units have closed down.

More than 40,000 workers associated with these closed mills are facing a serious crisis being rendered jobless amidst the pandemic situation.