States urged to order more jute sacking to boost demand

The Dollar Business Bureau In an effort to revive the Jute Industry, Ministry of Textiles has embarked upon a mission to persuade State governments to order more jute sacking. State Government representatives assured that they would sort out the issue in consultation with the jute industry. In addition to the above, Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Minister of State for Textiles (I/C), has taken several steps to strengthen the jute sector. As part of these steps, 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 are being hired a consultants. 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.  On the social front, the Government is contemplating provision of housing for jute mill workers. Collaborative schemes to provide standard housing to jute mill workers are being discussed. Ministry of Textiles would support this initiative. Last but not the least, the Government 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. The Government of West Bengal has been requested to support this initiative, while PricewaterhouseCoopers has been engaged to prepare the roadmap.   

This article was published on February 24, 2015.