March 6 marks the National Jute Day. But does this day have any real significance now? All the 25 loss-making state-run jute mills under the Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJ MC) have been shut down and their workers retrenched under the arrangement of what is euphemistically termed, 'golden handshake'. Of the around 25,000 permanent workers of those jute mills, the government is learnt to have paid off the labourers of some four jute mills under the settlement package, while the money for the rest has been allocated, it is further informed.
Let us hope all the workers whether permanent or on daily wage-basis will finally get paid as promised by the government.
But with the closure of the government-owned jute mills, the story of the labourers who worked there, the millions of farmers in the countryside who grow jute and millions of others whose lives and livelihoods revolve around jute will also come to an end? Does it also mean that jute, once called the 'golden fibre' of Bengal, has lost its past glory, glamour and glitter forever? Has jute that once earned the highest amount of foreign currency in pre-independence Bangladesh lost its potential as the chief cash crop? Far from it. On the contrary, though the bank-rolled public-sector jute mills failed to make any profit year after year, the privately-owned ones are thriving. They are making substantial profits so much so that between July and February of the current financial (FY 2020-21), that is, during the months including the worst corona-hit ones, export of jute and jute products increased by 23 per cent. And that has happened at a time when performance of the big players in the export sector including the apparel, leather and leather goods recorded a declining trend.
Coming to the crucial issue of the closed down jute mills and their workers, what is in wait for them?
The laid off workers were given the hope that they would be reemployed in the same jute mills, though in a modernised shape, once those are reopened under a new arrangement such as public private partnership (PPP), G2G, joint venture, lease and so on. During the past eight months since the workers were laid off, we have not heard much about those possibilities except that the 'lease model' is still being talked about.
But will any entrepreneur really like to invest in the BJMC's closed down factories as well as recruit the retrenched workers? It is anybody's guess.
The lease model now doing the rounds may also not last long for the simple reason that no private investors have shown interest in resuscitating the closed down jute mills with their own money so far; neither do they seem eager to take those under any short-term lease agreement. If they agree, say under a long-term lease system, there will still remain many uncertainties. Where will the working capital come from; if bank loans are offered, what would be the terms? Most importantly, is there any strong reason why a modern-day investor would be interested in those closed-down jute mills with their outmoded machinery and the workforce accustomed to it? They would rather like to start afresh with modern machinery, management and products.
In the given situation, the best option before the government will be to ensure that the promised settlement money is disbursed among all the workers through banks in cash and other forms as soon as possible. At the same time, it may arrange different training programmes for these workers so that they may undertake income generating activities (IGAs) after completing the training. Also, provision of low-interest credit will encourage them to start IGAs after the training.
Meanwhile, like it did in the case of the readymade garment (RMG) sector, the government should focus on jute and promote in every way entrepreneurs are willing to produce, market and export jute and jute goods with especial emphasis on jute bags and all types of jute-based packaging products. Generous budgetary allocations for the purpose would be required so that a new era for the 'golden fibre' could be ushered in.
sfalim.ds@gmail.com