The government has decided to downsize two-third of the workforce of existing 2,955 officials and staff of the state-run Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) for smooth-running of the organization, according to a finance division official involved in disinvestment of the 25 closed jute mills.
However, BJMC officials and staff members have demanded that the retrenched staff members should be incorporated into other government organisations.
A meeting will be held on Thursday (August 20) at finance division auditorium to finalize the matter before sending it for approval from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Finance Minister AHM Mostafa Kamal.
Additional Secretary of Treasury and Debit Management Sheikh Mohammed Salim Ullah will preside over the meeting.
Salim Ullah is also head of the government formed five-member committee to ensure the smooth payment of salaries, allowances and dues to permanent and retired employees of the 25 closed down jute mills.
Regarding the matter, BJMC chairman Md Abdur Rouf told The Business Post, “A large manpower will not be needed to look after the jute mills as most of them will be part of private sector.”
A BJMC official, with the condition of anonymity, said, “We do not need retrenchment benefit, rather, we should get new jobs in other government organizations.”
Labour leader Faiezul Hakim said, “It is inhumane to retrench so many BJMC staff in the middle of their career. Concerned authorities should rethink their decision and listen carefully to staff demands.”
The state-owned entity was once the pride of the nation. For a period, just after Independence, people preferred BJMC jobs over a career in civil service.
But that very prestigious corporation died with the government's formal announcement that the mill workers had been terminated under a golden handshake package, he added.
The government pulled the plug on the BJMC in order to end the perennial issue of astronomical losses blighting its 25 state-owned jute mills.
The 25 jute mills under BJMC had been incurring losses for years, turning profits in just four of the last 44 years.
These incurred a cumulative loss of Tk 106.74 billion while the government provided subsidies worth Tk 106.74 billion in this sector over the last 48 years, according to official data.
BJMC was established in 1972 to monitor the nationalized jute mills.
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