The Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation’s (BSFIC) recent decision to close operations of six state-owned sugar mills until they are modernized has sparked protests among workers fearing job losses.
Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun has assured that workers will be transferred to the other state-owned mills until the modernization is complete. However, ensuring employment for all the workers until the reopening of the mills is going to be a difficult task.
When contacted by Dhaka Tribune on Sunday evening, the industries minister said: “First of all, we are not going to close down any sugar mills. We are taking initiatives to modernize them to reduce our loses.
“During the renovation period, our permanent workers will be attached to other work in some other mills or related sectors, but contract-based workers have to wait for the mill reopening to rejoin their work,” he added.
He further said the nine mills that are still in operation will coordinate sugarcane threshing until the modernization is completed.
BSFIC Chairman Sanat Kumar Saha also told the media the workers of the closed mills would be shifted to the other state-owned mills.
How many people will be affected by the closures?
In a government order on December 2, the BSFIC said production at six mills—Pabna Sugar, Shyampur Sugar, Panchagar Sugar, Setabganj Sugar, Rangpur Sugar, and Kushtia Sugar—would be closed until further notice.
Around 3,000 workers are employed at the six mills.
A top-level officer of Carew, Carew & Co (Bangladesh) Ltd, the country's largest state-owned sugar mill, on Sunday told Dhaka Tribune: “The BFIC has asked us how many employees we can afford to take from the closed mills. We told them we could accept a maximum of about 160 of the workers.”
When contacted, Bangladesh Sugar Industry Corporation Workers-Employees Federation President Masudur Rahman said: ““BSFIC can shift their permanent officers and workers from the closed six mills to other mills, but the contract based workers are at risk of losing their jobs.
“Another problem will be created if the BSFIC shifts an officer or employee from one of the six mills to a mill where an officer of the same rank is already working in the same post,” he added.
Mazaharul Haque Pradhan, president of the Bangladesh Sugar Mills Sugarcane Farmers Federation, said: “Farmers in the areas with the closed mills will not cultivate sugarcane if the mills stop threshing the plants. Without sugarcane, these mills will automatically close and thousands of workers will lose their jobs.”
He also said the BFIC decision to close the mills would directly affect 60-70,000 farmers and indirectly affect 10 million people.
Workers announce protests
Workers of the 15 state-owned sugar mills and sugarcane farmers have announced protests programs against the closure of six of the mills during the threshing season.
The Bangladesh Sugar Mills Sugarcane Federation and Bangladesh Sugar Industries Corporation Workers Federation announced the programs at a press conference in Dhaka's Segunbagicha on Saturday.
The workers and farmers will stage a two-hour strike daily from Monday until December 15 if the government does not withdraw the decision to close the mills, representatives of the two federations said.
BSFIC Chairman Sanat Kumar Saha could not be reached for comment by Dhaka Tribune on Sunday.