Kolkata: Amid a deepening raw jute crisis, Trinamool Congress (TMC) Rajya Sabha MP Ritabrata Banerjee has written to Union Textiles minister Giriraj Singh, warning that the sector is slipping into a “serious economic and social crisis” and seeking urgent intervention by the Centre for the Bengal raw jute industry.
In his letter, Banerjee said the prevailing situation—marked by acute scarcity of raw jute, sharp price volatility, curtailment of mill operations and loss of employment—was not sudden but the cumulative result of policy shortcomings over the past few years. He attributed the crisis primarily to the absence of a credible stabilisation framework for raw jute and irregular demand planning under the Packaging Commodities Supply Order (PCSO) and the Gunny Trade Policy (GTP). Banerjee, who is also the president of the National Trinamool Trade Union Congress, pointed out that although Minimum Support Price (MSP) procurement was undertaken during low-price years in 2023–24, no follow-up measures were put in place to stabilise the market. He flagged the lack of clear norms on reserve quantities, absence of defined release triggers and the non-existence of a rotation policy as factors that aggravated the situation.
“As a result, MSP procurement absorbed distress sales by farmers but failed to prevent the present scarcity and price shock,” the letter stated. The MP emphasised that prolonged policy failures—particularly unpredictable demand planning under PCSO and GTP orders—have pushed the sector into crisis.
According to Banerjee, the situation has forced mills to shut down operations due to unaffordable raw material costs, leading to loss of regular employment for thousands of jute mill workers.
He also said jute farmers are facing distress and uncertainty over sales. Warning of wider ramifications, Banerjee said failure of timely intervention could cause long-term structural damage to the industry and adversely impact the country’s packing sector, which remains heavily dependent on jute.