August 7, 2014
Dinesh Trivedi speaks on the poor condition of the jute industry | Transcript
Sir, I would like to draw your kind attention of the Government through you towards the deteriorating conditions of Jute Industry in West Bengal. Importance of Jute Industry in my state cannot be stressed enough Sir as it employs two lakh fifteen thousand people and accounts for nearly 79.57% of production in the country.
The Ministry of Textiles states that it provides MSP to encourage jute farming. However the fact is, for the last 12 years beginning 2001 to 2012-13, the production of jute in West Bengal has gone down nearly 7%, Sir.
The present price system does not support the jute farmers. The jute mills in West Bengal are in dire state. 5 units of National Jute Corporation Ltd and others had been declared sick during the last 10 years though three of them are now part of the revival scheme. They continue to function with a lot of losses.
Under the Jute Packaging Materials (Compulsory Use of Packing Commodities) Act 1987, the Government of India has consistently reduced the mandatory provisions from 100% for food grains and sugar in 2011-12 to 90% and 20% respectively in 2013-14 citing inadequate supply. 10 mills have shut down in West Bengal beginning 2010-11 to 2012-13 and newspapers report that six more mills have shut in the last two months.
I request the Government to urgently look into this matter in order to support jute farmers, jute mills and prevent large scale unemployment. For this I request you to change the provisions under JPM Act, 1987 for mandatory jute packaging for food grains and sugar to 100%
