The Indian Jute Mills Association (IJMA) on Sunday said it is planning to seek legal options against the government for a resolution to the raw jute crisis which leads to financial losses for the millers and supply commitment failure.
The regulator, Jute Commissioner, has remained unmoved over the concern of the industry though the prices did not reach what the government had declared three months ago, IJMA chairman Raghavendra Gupta said. He said that the millers' body did not receive any response to its communication sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in this regard.
“We are planning to take legal remedy soon as raw jute prices remain at ₹7,000 per quintal and above. We are making losses as we continue to buy raw jute at ₹7,000, while the government will pay us at the declared price of ₹6,500 per quintal,” Gupta told PTI.
More and more mills are closing and this will lead to a shortage in supply of gunny bags for food grain packaging and 75 per cent of the consumption is for government supply, he said. Raw jute price had not eased in the last three months since the government had fixed the fair price of the key raw material at ₹6,500 per quintal.
Over a dozen jute mills in the State have been closed recently, mostly due to raw jute concerns. Jute industry in Bengal involves over 30 lakh jute farmers and 2.5 lakh mills workers, according to estimates by trade unions.