THAT the jute farmers and jute mill workers in India are facing the worst ever crisis today, and are being pushed into destitution, due to the faulty policies of the union textile ministry and the food ministry, was what the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) recently sought to highlight once again.

In a memorandum given to Santosh Kumar Gangwar, the minister of state for textiles in the government of India on June 19, the AIKS drew his attention to the current alarming situation of jute farmers and jute industry workers in the country.

The memorandum submitted by the AIKS general secretary, Hannan Mollah, said the union food ministry’s decision to drastically lower the orders for supply of jute bags has created an artificial crisis for the production process in the jute mills. Between February and April 2014, the food and public distribution department of the government of India has reduced its orders for supply of jute bags by almost half. This decision can only benefit a few manufacturers of the HDPE or PP synthetic bags, the AIKS accused.

According to the memorandum, the union ministry of textiles too, vide its notification dated January 31, 2014, brought down the extent of compulsory jute packaging of foodgrains to 90 percent and of sugar to 20 percent for the jute crop year 2013-14. The jute industry’s efforts to supply light weight jute bags with 30 kg capacity for the National Food Security Mission did not materialise either.

The AIKS memorandum also produced a table below (see alongside) to show the B-Twill supply orders position in 2013-14 in comparison with the earlier years. The table shows that the B-Twill procurement by the government is way below the actual requirement of the government. In 2013-14, while the B-Twill requirement of the government was of 12.69 lakh metric tonnes, the government actually procured only 8.70 lakh metric tonnes.

The AIKS also pointed out that a few jute mills have already closed down and more are expected to close down in the coming days. The fixation of minimum support prices for jute by the government far below the actual cost of production and also the failure of the Jute Corporation of India or other sources to effectively procure at these low rates are leading to distress sales by the farmers. This has marred the life of three lakh families of jute mill workers and 40 lakh families of jute farmers, spread mainly across five states. Jute mill workers are facing extreme insecurity and lakhs of them are threatened with the prospect of losing their only source of livelihood. Millions of jute farmers who are already in a precarious condition will also be hit badly. A human tragedy of a hitherto unheard of proportion is thus looming large if extraordinary steps are not taken on an immediate basis.

The All India Kisan Sabha therefore urged upon the minister to immediately intervene in the situation on humanitarian grounds and protect the lives and livelihoods of millions of jute farmers and jute mill workers.

In this regard, the Kisan Sabha has put forth the following demands:

1) Mandatory 100 percent usage of jute bags for transport and packaging of foodgrains and sugar. Ban on the use of synthetic bags with strong deterrent action against the violators.

2) Immediate placement of orders for supply of jute bags as per the actual requirement.

3) Instruction to the Jute Corporation of India to open adequate purchasing centres and assure procurement at an MSP equalling the cost of production plus 50 percent (C2+50%).

The organisation has demanded that the ministry must look into the matter and do the needful at the earliest.

B-Twill Supply Orders Position in the Months February to April