As a positive step towards the revival of the sick jute mill industry to transform it into a profit-making and employment-generating industry the state labour department organised a workshop on Monday on the prospective entrants in the jute mill at Kakurgachi Utsab Manch.

Members of the Jute Mill Association along with senior officials of the state employment directorate and the labour commissioner were present. State labour minister Becharam Manna addressed the gathering over different issues related to the plans and programmes towards the revival of the sick jute mills into a profitable jute industry of the district and on both sides of the river Hooghly covering the North and South 24 Parganas, Howrah and Kolkata.

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Additional labour commissioner Tirthankar Sengupta said thousands of youths through employment bank under the employment, the directorate will get the opportunity to undergo skills training to take up the responsibility to run the jute mills smoothly.

In 2018 a scheme was launched under the skilled development programme to train up youths in spinning and weaving with the approval of the state chief minister Mamata Banerjee. At present, there are 13 centres running the theoretical training centres.

However, at the special initiative taken by the state labour minister Becharam Manna more than 10 closed jute mills were reopened. Manna said earlier the jute mills opened after a temporary suspension of work but soon again closed down citing different reasons.

“To increase the productivity and to enhance the quality of the finished jute items the old machinery has to be replaced with the machinery with the latest technology so that with less effort quantity and quality can be maintained.

“At present jute mills are now running short of 30 per cent of human work power. Hence steps are being taken to provided skills training to the jobless youths to manage and control the modernised spinning and weaving departments in the jute mills, we are already working on the most needed upgrade of the jute mills.

Now the jute mills are incapable of meeting the massive demand for jute gunny bags and other finished jute items. Hence the plastic bag manufacturing units are stealing the profit, we need to encourage the production of jute based products for their eco-friendly biodegradable advantage.”