Govt allocates Tk1,000 crore for jute mills

In the wake of the strike by Khulna jute mill employees, the government has allocated Tk1,000 crore for 27 state-owned jute mills in the country. Jute mill workers will also receive their due wages from the past eight weeks just before Pohela Boishakh, the Bangla New Year. At the regular cabinet meeting yesterday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina gave directives to allocate the fund for Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC). “People of the country will celebrate Pohela Boishakh with the bonus they got but my jute mill workers will not get their dues and spend days in the streets with empty plates, I cannot accept it,” Hasina was quoted State Minister for Jute and Textile Mirza Azam as saying at the meeting. After the meeting, the Jute and Textile Ministry announced the prime minister’s directives. The mill workers will get their due payments before Pohela Boishakh, Mirza Azam told reporters. “The ministry will provide Tk48 crore. The due salaries of the jute mill workers will be paid from this Tk48 crore from tomorrow. Other dues will be paid later, as it will take nearly seven days to get the allocated Tk1,000 crore,” said the minister. The allocated amount is also meant for modernising jute mills and purchasing raw materials for the mills, Azam added. In reply to a query, the state minister said: “The dues are from 2008; but they rose in the last three years. Among the dues, Tk200 crore are for gratuity and Tk300 crore for provident fund. “Not only workers in the Khulna region, but workers of all regions will receive their dues.” The CBA and non-CBA Oikya Parishad of the seven jute mills – Crescent Jute Mills, Platinum Jute Mills, Khalishpur Jute Mills, Star Jute Mills, Eastern Jute Mills, Jessore Jute Mills, and Carpeting Jute Mills – have been observing a strike since April 4 to press home their five-point demand. The demands of the workers include adequate allocation for the jute industry, payment of their arrears, formation of a wage board, and stopping the move to privatise the state-owned jute mills. The BJMC has 27 jute mills under it, with 70,000 employees. Among them, 32,000 are permanent and the remaining employees work on a contractual basis.