The Hindu Business Line : ‘Workers wanted’ at Bengal jute mills

Kolkata , Jan. 14 Not so long ago, most jute mills in West Bengal had boards hanging outside their gates with the words ‘No Vacancy’ prominently written on them. Those were the days when ‘badli’ or casual workers used to queue up outside the gates of jute mills in the hope of getting work for one shift and, in the process, earn just enough money to buy two square meals for their families. Times have since changed and, as the cliché goes, the boot is on the other foot. Jute mills today are faced with a shortage of skilled workers, and the words ‘No Vacancy’ have been replaced with ‘Workers Wanted’.

Workers Shortage

The organised jute mills sector, which provides gainful engagement to 2.5 lakh workers, is required to cope with a shortage of workers — the kind of which has not been witnessed before. Informed sources say that the shortage currently is as high as 25 per cent of the total number of workers that is required by the industry to operate on a three-shift basis. The positive part of the development is that most ‘badli’ workers are now engaged on a daily basis.

According to the sources, the industry has for long been dependent on labour migrating primarily from States such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Orissa. The migration from these States has gone down considerably in recent times as they are finding work closer to their homes. The construction boom in some parts of the country has ensured that workers do not have to migrate to West Bengal to look for an engagement in the jute mills.

A source in the jute industry said: “Fifty per cent of the workers in jute mills earn Rs 200 per day. New entrants are paid Rs 100 per day. Some of them choose to work for barely three days a week and are either watching cricket matches or serials on television for the rest of the week.”

To address the problem of workers’ shortage in the jute industry, the Sarda Group of companies, which has nine jute mills under its fold churning out a turnover of Rs 2,000 crore, is setting up a training centre for generating workers for the jute industry.

During the training period, the trainees would be paid a stipend of Rs 30 per day and also be provided with one meal. It is hoped that this will attract people and help mitigate, at least partially, the problem of manpower shortage in the jute industry.

More Stories on : Jute | Human Resources | West Bengal

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