The jute industry in West Bengal finds itself in a tight spot as the Committee of Secretaries (CoS) is set to discuss with the Cabinet Secretary on April 22 a proposal for exemption of wheat from the ambit of the mandatory packaging Act.
"A high-level meeting under the Cabinet Secretary is proposed tomorrow evening with the CoS on exempting wheat from the Jute Packaging Materials (Compulsory Use in Packaging Commodities) Act, 1947," sources told PTI.
"When a key stakeholder is busy with elections and the state government cannot be consulted, such a drastic step by the Centre like taking out an important crop like wheat from the minimum mandatory packaging Act is completely unwarranted. It will hurt employment scenario severely in the state as the industry employs about 2.5 lakh people."
The size of wheat packaging in jute bags is estimated at 1.2 million bales (one bale is 180 kg), or almost 50 per cent of all government orders of gunny bags. In value terms, the market is pegged at about Rs 3,000 crore, the sources said.
The Indian Jute Mills Association (IJMA) recently wrote to the textiles secretary expressing surprise over the proposal despite 85 per cent of the total intended supply has already been provided by the mills in the rabi season of 2016-17.
In a recent communication to the Union textiles ministry, the Department of Food and Public Distribution has emphasised on an alternative in the form of high-density polyethylene (HDPE)/polypropylene (PP) bags so that alleged malpractices by a handful of errant jute millers can be checked.
