A Kolkata jute mill ‘sacks’ cash; 99% of staff prefer bank transfer

“Bank transfers have helped me save a part of my earnings. Earlier, I would blow up the entire cash,” says 50-year-old Sahajad Ali, a worker at Hukumchand Jute Mill, located in the suburbs of Kolkata.

Hukumchand was one of the first jute mills of the State to have successfully embraced bank transfers some two years back. Ali opted for bank transfer of his salary just four months ago.

For 27 years, he has preferred receiving cash. But, all that changed when friend Parmatma Chaudhuri spoke highly of adopting bank transfers. Making trips to the ATM machine and displaying a debit card were seen as status symbols. Ali convinced himself.

Hukumchand was amongst the five jute mills – from the 60-odd in West Bengal – to opt for bank transfer of salaries. Majority of its 10,000-odd permanent workforce had opted for bank transfers. This apart, it has 3,000 temporary staff.

The other four mills which had moved on to part or full bank transfer of salaries (before November 8) include Cheviot, Naihati, Ganges and Caledonian.

Interestingly, demonetisation came as a boon for Hukumchand.

“Since 2014, nearly 80 per cent of our workers and employees opted for bank transfers. Post demonetisation, 99 per cent of employees get their salaries directly (in banks),” said SK Chandra, Chief Executive (Works) and Director, Hukumchand Jute Mill.

Accordingly, Hukumchand proudly displays a banner on one of its mill floors – in Hindi and Bengali – where it claims that salaries will be transferred only into bank accounts. There will be no cash payments November 9 onwards.

“Now payments for nearly 90 per cent of the industry’s workers are through bank transfers,” Raghavendra Gupta, Chairman of the Indian Jute Mills Association (IJMA) and owner of Hukumchand Mills, told BusinessLine .

In fact, Fort William Jute Mill, another of Gupta’s mills, too, has seen 1,300 of its 1,800 employees (72 per cent) embrace bank transfers.

Javed Nasir, one of the workers at Howrah (Kolkata’s twin city across the Hooghly)-based Fort William, is happy that he went for bank transfers. He received around ₹5,000 on November 23 in his account that was lying dormant for quite some time now. He has no complaints.

“ Accha hi to hai (It is good)”, he says when asked if the move has created any difficulty for him or not.

Actually, it was no mean feat for Hukumchand to bring about the change. Earlier, the mill management would send a currency note requirement list to banks, specifying even the denominations required.

But as Chandra explains, dealing with such high amount of cash was risky.

So in 2014, the mill management started distributing pamphlets with the benefit of bank transfers being highlighted.

This was followed up with first time adopters (amongst the workers) explaining the benefits of the “new system”.

“There was some reluctance initially. But, with previous adopters harping on the benefits, more employees starting adopting it,” Chandra maintains.

Interestingly, post demonetisation, the mill management – at both Hukumchand and Fort William - took on itself to station two bank officials at the mill and ensure that savings accounts are opened for those who still do not have one. Special camps have also been set up for that purpose.

However, for the mill management, the problem now is absenteeism.

Post demonetisation, labourers make multiple trips to banks or ATMs which impacts production.

Even overtime payments – which were previously made only in cash – have taken a beating with most workers demanding such payments be still made in cash.

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