Textiles ministry mulls policy intervention for jute

07 Sep '16

2 min read

The Union ministry of textiles is considering policy intervention to promote the jute sector. This would include both long-term and short-term policy interventions to address issues affecting the sector, textiles secretary Rashmi Verma said after a meeting of the jute industry stakeholders in Kolkata. Union textiles minister Smriti Irani chaired the meeting.

“We are trying to find out what can be done through long-term policy intervention to promote the (jute) sector. Separate brainstorming sessions will be held with mill owners and farmers,” Verma said. The government would also try to find solutions for short-term issues affecting the sector, for which it would hold detailed meetings with concerned stakeholders, she added.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the Indian Jute Mills Association, trade unions, jute balers association, a farmers’ body and other stakeholders. Issues like intense competition and cheap import from Bangladesh were raised by jute mills, while jute balers raised the issue of receiving late payments from mills which causes delay in paying compensation to farmers.

Sukehndu Sekhar Roy, MP from West Bengal, also attended the meeting. He said that the mandatory Jute Packaging Act should not be diluted as livelihood of lakhs of people was associated with it. In fact, the economy of West Bengal is highly dependent on the jute industry. (RKS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India

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