The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

The Government has taken a move to trim workers in public sector jute mills by 50 per cent to make the state-owned mills, now reeling under perennial losses, commercially viable.

Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) sacked a total of 5908 workers from its jute mills on October 1 under the government's "jute sector reform" plan, sources concerned said. The number of total retrenched workers reached 13,000 during the last 10 months as some 9000 workers were forced to retire under a new trade rule, they added.

Sector insiders say that the government move, if implemented, would render more than 20,000 workers and employees jobless. They will be sent into voluntary retirement under a scheme to be implemented by December this year.

Jute workers and trade union leaders termed the decision suicidal for the country's industries. "It is nothing but a conspiracy, orchestrated by the international lending agencies, against Bangladeshi industries," said Shahidullah Chowdhury, a veteran trade union leader and expert in the sector.

At present, there are 22 jute mills under BJMC with over 43,000 workers and employees on its pay roll.

The Government also shut four out of 22 mills in the public sector recently in a bid to reduce public sector losses. The previous government shut down the country's largest Adamjee Jute Mills following financially it collapsed due to mismanagement and corruption.

Earlier, the textile and jute ministry submitted a comprehensive plan to the chief adviser seeking reforms in the sector against the backdrop of fund crunch and mismanagement.

The mills now owe Tk 136 crore to jute sellers as the Finance Ministry was not giving them any funds and they were suffering from liquidity crisis for three years, said Ministry sources.

Meanwhile, authorities sacked all the staff of state-owned People's Jute Mills in Khulna to close four mills under BJMC - People's Jute Mill, Karnaphuli Jute Mill and Furat Karnaphuli Carpet Factory in Chittagong and Qaumi Jute Mills in Sirajganj.

The Jute Ministry has already sought Tk 382 crore from the Finance Ministry to terminate around 9,000 workers and employees of these four mills through golden handshakes, said an official.