The Union ministry for food and public distribution has pulled up some leading jute mill owners based out of West Bengal for supply of inferior quality of jute bags meant for packaging of food grains.
The ministry is flooded with complaints from the Punjab government that a number of leading jute mill owners from Bengal are supplying inferior quality jute bags for packing of food grains in the ongoing Rabi season, said a source familiar with the development.
According to a food ministry offcial, the Director of Quality Assurance (DQA), on 8 March this year, had pulled up a leading jute mill owner of Bengal for supplying 626 bales of inferior quality material to the Punjab government.
Subsequently, the DQA rejected eight inferior consignments of the same mill owner. The mill owner had manipulated his inferior materials at the consignee point of Jagraon police station in Punjab and diverted the materials from a fresh repacking from his mill in Bengal.
This apart, it is learnt that the DQA has also booked five more mills of West Bengal and some mills from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar for the same reasons.
"There is a possibility of a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as the number of complaints pertaining to the supply of inferior quality of bags is very high. The officials involved in the deal should be booked under Prevention of Corruption Act’’, said a highly placed official of the food ministry.
Says an industry source, “Under BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) norms, a consumer can always complain against the supplier within one year of receipt of the material.”
Meanwhile, the Punjab government has already written to the Union food ministry, requesting for the use of polythene/plastic bags for packing of food grains in the ongoing Rabi season and the upcoming Kharif season under its PUNGRAIN scheme.
It is estimated that the mills are cheating the government to the tune of around Rs 72 crore per month by supplying 4,000 bales of inferior quality and used bags that are almost 65 gms lower than the standard weight of 665 gms.
While the mills are quoting a price of a new B–Twill bag at Rs 37, they are only supplying used and inferior quality bags weighing 600 gms and priced at around Rs 33.36. In this way they are making an illegal income of Rs 3.64 per bag and Rs 1820 per bale.
Almost 40 per cent of the annual industry production of 1.2 million tonnes of jute bags is purchased by the government under the Jute Packaging Materials Act of 1987.
The size of the annual sacking market is estimated at around Rs 7500 crore. B–Twill sacks are produced in the 66 operating mills of India of which 52 are in West Bengal.
