The West Bengal government on Wednesday allowed the operation of jute mills with 15% staff who have been mandated to maintain social distancing norms. The development comes after a number of communications from the Ministry of Textiles including one during the day urging Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha to issue “necessary instructions to the mills to start operations for production of bags immediately.”
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told journalists here that the Ministry of Textiles had proposed to open 18 mills to meet the demand of bags during the harvest season. “How can I discriminate and allow one jute mill to function and not allow others. All mills will operate with 15% staff maintaining all protocols of social distancing,” she said.
She said the governments of Punjab and Telangana had approached the State for jute bags but the State was concerned about the spread of the COVID-19 and did not take any decision on resuming operations. Welcoming the decision, president of the Indian Jute Mills Association ( IJMA) said this was peak season for orders for bags and in their absence plastics were being used. There are about 74 mills of which about 60 are in West Bengal along both the banks of river Hooghly. The labour-intensive industry employs about 2.5 lakh workers, he said.
The letter from Ravi Capoor, Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, said the Central government had allowed selected activities with effect from April 20 to mitigate the hardship of the public. “Accordingly, as per Para 15 ( ix) of the Consolidated Revised Guidelines, jute industries with staggered shifts and social distancing have been allowed to operate.” Prior to this, he had written two letters to the State government on April 4 and April 13 to allow the functioning of the mills.
Anadi Sahu, secretary of the Bengal Chatkal Majdoor Union, said workers should be paid wages for all the weeks when the mills were shut. “There have already been deputations by workers on wages. As per the law, even if 15% of the workers are working, the management should ensure that wages are paid to all,” former State Labour Minister and secretary of the State unit of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions said.
The State government has already allowed the plucking of leaves in the tea gardens of north Bengal with 25% staff.