West Bengal has permitted all jute mills in the state to reopen with 15 per cent of the workforce and in strict adherence to social distancing norms. Textiles minister Smriti Irani recently requested state chief minister Mamata Banerjee to operationalise 18 jute mills identified by the central government to deal with shortage of bags for food grain packaging.

Banerjee had responded saying picking and choosing jute mills is tantamount to discrimination.

The workforce will work on alternative days. More than 2 lakh workers are directly dependent on jute mills in the state.

However, Indian Jute Mills Association (IJMA) chairman Raghav Gupta said running the mills at such low capacity with only 15 per cent workers is not feasible, according to a news agency report.

IJMA estimates that after abiding to all safety protocols, jute mills can operate at 66 per cent of capacity. It will submit its report in this regard and discuss with the government, Gupta said.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

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