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West Bengal has already imposed lockdown-like restrictions throughout the state in response to the surge in the second COVID wave and the government has issued instructions that only 30% workers will be permitted to work in the jute mills of the state.

The jure sector is on of Bengal’s most labour intensive and traditional sectors that developed in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries along the two banks of the Hooghly river.

There are more than 60 jute mills in the state employing a few lakh permanent and casual workers. These are mainly located in North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Howrah and Hooghly districts.

The state government advisory has triggered apprehensions among the owners who fear some jute mills might be forced to close down in the face of such severe restrictions.

Notification
On May 7, the state government issued a notification that read, “Operations in jute mills shall be restricted to 30% of total strength of each shift. Wearing of masks, maintenance of physical distancing and health and hygiene protocols must be followed at all times.”

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has already said that all the jute mills should adhere to the guidelines, else the authorities would face strict punitive action.

The administration has also set up a four-member district-level vigilance committee on May 8 to monitor whether all mills are following the protocol. They are supposed to submit a weekly report after visiting to the jute mills of the respective district.

Industry version
According to the association of jute mill owners these steps are bizarre. The industry is going to collapse if the rules have to be followed. So they have planned to write the chief minister with the appeal of a rethink.

“The jute industry in Bengal is gasping for the oxygen. If these rules are to be strictly followed for 3-4 weeks, then 90% of the mills have to close down,” said Raghabendra Gupta, chairman, India Jute Mills Association (IJMA), the pioneer body of jute mills owner.

“First, raw jute production in Bengal is gradually decreasing day by day. On top of that, it we have to work with only 30% of the workers, it would certainly hit production and we would fail to deliver orders in time. In the long run we would be unable to survive,” said a jute mill owner from North 24 Parganas on conditions of anonymity.

Mandatory
According to the Jute Packaging Materials (Compulsory use in Packaging Commodities) Act 1987, Bengal jute mills usually supply 80-85% of gunny bags to the whole nation for packaging of foodgrains and sugar.

The quantity of jute bags supplied from Bengal goes up to 12-15 lakh tonnes per year.

With only 30% workers it won’t be possible to supply according to the deadline, and if there is failure on this count, there will be no new orders for the next year, said Gupta.

Last two years
In the last two financial years jute mills from the state were unable to deliver the full order, they were short by 2-3 lakh tonnes. If this failure is repeated this year, none will survive, said IJMA members.

“If there is no way out we might have to close our doors. Then lakhs of workers would lose their jobs. None of us wants this eventuality,” said Raghabendra Gupta.

The state government has also asked the tea gardens in north Bengal, another labour-intensive traditional industry of the state, to work with 50% workers.