Bengal's decision to allow 100% workforce in jute mills prompted by letter from PMO: Official

The West Bengal government's decision to allow 100 per cent workforce in jute mills from June 1 was prompted by a letter from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), a state government official said on Saturday.

The announcement made by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday to fully operationalise the jute mills from Monday came soon after a letter from Bhaskar Khulbe, advisor to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was received by state Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha, the official said.

"... I have made a request to the chief minister for allowing Indian Jute Mills Association to deploy full workforce in 59 functional jute mills of West Bengal so that they are able to attain the production capacity of 10,000 bales per day by June 15. She had kindly agreed to consider their request with due empathy," Khulbe wrote to Sinha.

The jute industry has welcomed the state's decision as the sector is reeling under a supply backlog of jute bags needed for packaging foodgrains in the wake of the lockdown.

The supply backlog mounted to 2.5 lakh bales for the current Rabi season as the mills with a reduced workforce have been struggling to meet the requirement for jute bags, an industry official has said.

"The backlog is now 2.5 lakh bales. The West Bengal government had given permission to operate with 50 per cent workforce during the lockdown. Now, we are allowed to deploy 100 per cent from June, which is a welcome step," Indian Jute Mills Association (IJMA) Chairman Rahav Gupta has said.

"Of the 60-odd mills in West Bengal, operations in 10-12 units in North and South 24 Parganas and Howrah were disrupted due to Cyclone Amphan," he added.

The Mamata Banerjee government had initially allowed some jute mills to operate with 15 per cent of the workforce and later increased the limit to 50 per cent.