By Sirshendu Panth
Kolkata, Apr 18 (IANS): The apex body representing the Indian jute industry has expressed its reservations about the West Bengal government's decision to allow deployment of 15 per cent of the workforce for resumption of operations in the mills during the lockdown period and said a number of mills would find it difficult to meet the pre-condition of payment of workers' full wages.
The Indian Jute Mills Association, however, said it was fully prepared to adhere to all lockdown norms, including maintaining social distancing and sanitisation as per a standing operating procedure finalised by PricewaterhouseCoopers it had hired for the purpose.
The West Bengal government has declared that all industries, including jute mills, seeking permission to resume operations would have to furnish a certificate that they have cleared the full wages of the workers.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also announced that the mills would be allowed to deploy only 15 per cent of the workers to ensure social distancing. For areas under complete lockdown, the government has permitted deployment of only five per cent of workers.
"Lot of our money - Rs 240 crore - is stuck in the Jute Commissioner's Office. The bills from the state government for the orders we have delivered is also stuck due to the lockdown. Once the bills come, we will claim them and then only money will come.
"A number of mills have managed to pay the wages. But for others, whose money is stuck, it will be a problem," IJMA Director General Debasish Roy told IANS.
Roy said the jute industry does not get loans from any bank because of the negative perception about the sector.
"So we don't have working capital. We have to make do with the money that we get form the government for the orders. Now this is a bottleneck situation.
"Apart from the mills which have cleared all dues, others can also make the payment to the workers once we get the money which is stuck. But we are in a Catch-22 situation. The government says the mills cannot be opened unless we clear the wages. On the other hand, unless the mills resume operations, we won't get the money," he said.
According to the IJMA, there are 69 jute mills in Bengal now employing 2.5 lakh workers. About 40 lakh farmers are involved in jute cultivation in the state. The mills have been shut since March 23 when the Covid-19 induced lockdown began.
Roy said it was also not possible to run mills with only 15 per cent of the work force.
Drawing comparison with the working of the tea gardens, he said all workers in the gardens do more or less the same job of plucking the leaves, putting those in baskets, drying and packing.
"But in jute mills, there are 28 types of machines. A small group of workers takes care of one machine. If we are allowed to use only 15 per cent of our work force, then who will run the remaining machines?" he asked.
While emphasising the need for deploying 100 per cent of the workers, he said that social distancing and other lockdown norms would be maintained fully.
"We will maintain social distancing. We have prepared a standing operating procedure by hiring PricewaterhouseCoopers. We will follow it and ensure safety," he said.
Asked whether he was suggesting that the industry would not be in a position to resume operations because of the conditions given by the government, he said: "Let us see... We are discussing...We need a practical solution. Money does not fall from the sky".
Roy said the owners also have no idea about the availability of the workers, many of whom come from states like Bihar and Jharkhand.
"We will know about it only once the mills resume. See, we can't go to workers' homes to check whether they are still in the state. Once we open, we will inform them that we are open for business and ask them to come. Then we will know how many of them will be available", he added.