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Govt to run 26 jute mills under PPP

Workers will be offered golden handshake

Published : Monday, 29 June, 2020 at 12:00 AM  Count : 311

Amid protest from different corners and threat of vigorous movement, the government has decided to lay off 26 public jute mills and cut jobs of its workers through 'golden handshake'.
In an online briefing held on Sunday, Textile and Jute Minister Golam Dastagir Gazi (Bir Protik) said the decision was taken to save the jute mills from repeated loss for years.
In the last eight years, the authority had to count loss of around Tk4, 000 crore, he said.
A total of 24,886 workers will be retrenched from their jobs with all government facilities while the unpaid wages and dues of 8,954 retired workers will be paid before the closure of the jute mills, he said.
The minister said Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) would
    pay all dues of its workers.
"The Prime Minister has instructed us to send the workers into retirement through the golden handshake scheme. After renovation with modern equipment and golden handshake process, the authority will restart the mills with fresh investment. The retrenched workers will get priority during the new venture," Dastagir Gazi said.
The minister said the government had already allocated Tk5,000 crore in the proposed budget to pay the arrears, wages, provident funds, maximum 27 percent gratuity and other benefits to the workers.
"After the termination, initiatives will be taken to run the mills under PPP/joint venture/G2G/lease model under the government control," he said.
In the new model, the current workers who are going to be terminated will get job opportunities on priority basis. At the same time, new employment opportunities will be created, he added.
At the press briefing speakers also stated that the efficiency of current jute mills set up with equipment about 60-70 years ago had come down to almost zero with the passage of time.
Moreover, BJMC's old management structure is not suitable for modern technology based production systems.
Textile and Jute Secretary Lokman Hossain Mia and Additional Secretary Mohammad Abul Kalam, NDC were connected online, among others, on the occasion.
However, different political parties, including Workers' Party, one of the major party of the ruling 14-party alliance, expressed its anxiety over the government decision to shut down the jute mills.
Meanwhile, jute mill workers announced to go on hunger strike with their families to protest the government decision.
Industrial workers of Khulna on Sunday announced that they would hold a one-hour strike of workers and children on Monday morning and a hunger strike with their families on July 1.








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