Textile minister, Santosh Kumar Gangwar, has taken several steps to strengthen the jute sector following review meetings, he held with various stakeholders of the sector.
The decisions included utilization of unused assets of closed mills, to generate employment.
It has been decided to utilize the unused assets, such as land, of the three closed mills of NJMC (National Jute Manufactures Corporation Limited) for economic activities. The focus is to generate employment. Activities such as apparel park or textile hub shall be considered. West Bengal government has been requested to support this initiative, while PricewaterhouseCoopers has been engaged to prepare the roadmap.
NJMC to invite entrepreneurs to run Kinnison, Khardah and RBHM jute mills through license route.
Beside, NJB (National Jute Board) will intensify development and promotion of diversified jute products. Training of Women’s Self Help Groups, including that of groups of Tiger widows in the Sundarban, will be given particular emphasis. Reputed R&D institutes such as IIT Kharagpur, NITRA and IJIRA is being taken. NID (National Institute of Design) has been roped in, to assist in the development of new designs and for setting up of state-of-art design centre for shopping bags and other jute lifestyle products. Stress would be made on feminine hygiene products and low-cost carry bags.
At the same time, there should a provision of housing for jute mill workers. Collaborative schemes to provide standard housing to jute mill workers were discussed. Ministry of textiles would support this initiative, while West Bengal government has also been requested to participate in this venture.
Steps will also be taken to boost demand for jute sacking. Ministry of textiles is making all-out efforts to persuade state governments to order more jute sacking to boost demand. West Bengal government has been requested to procure jute sacking for packaging of paddy/rice and of potatoes/vegetables. State government representatives assured that they would sort out the issue in consultation with the jute industry, official sources said.