A total of 61 private jute mills under Bangladesh Jute Mills Association and Bangladesh Jute Spinners Association were closed, rendering 56,157 workers unemployed, said Textiles and Jute Minister Emaz Uddin Pramanik.
But no state-owned jute mills under Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation is shut, he said in response to a query in parliament yesterday.
“Of the 61 private mills that are closed now, 35 are under the BJMA while the remaining 26 are under the BJSA. The number of jute workers without job is 56,157; of them, 47,682 under the BJMA and 8,475 under the BJSA,” said the minister.
Jute, once known as the golden fibre, was also one of the top exports of the country but is no longer so.
At present, there are 104 private jute mills under the BJMA and 80 mills under the BJSA are in operation.
Pramanik said the country produced 7.5 million bales of jute in fiscal year 2013-14.
