The government has disbursed Taka 623.91 crore to pay all the dues of workers of three state-owned jute mills under Bangladesh Jute Mill Corporation (BJMC) till October 11.
An official of the Finance Division confirmed disbursement of the said amount for the workers of now defunct Karim Jute Mills at Demra, Gul Ahmed Jute Mills Ltd at Sitakunda, Chattogram and Platinum Jubilee Mills Ltd at Khalishpur in Khulna. It may be mentioned that the Finance division has allocated Taka 2000cr in the last budget for the payment of dues of now defunct 25 state-owned Jute mills.
On September 15, golden handshake activities of the laid-off jute mills started as the Minister for Textile and Jute Golam Dastagir Gazi handed over savings certificates to 30 workers of Karim Jute Mills in Dhaka. The government has paid the dues of 1,659 workers of that state-owned jute mill. It was said on the occasion that the production activities of all the permanent workers working in the 25 operating jute mills under the control of BJMC were terminated on July 1.
BJMC is now paying dues worth Taka 71.52 crore to 1004 workers of Gul Ahmed Jute Mills of Sitakunda. The Finance Division also disbursed Taka 124 crore for payment of dues of workers of the Platinum Jubilee Mills Ltd in Khalishpur of Khulna.
Minister for Textile and Jute Golam Dastagir Gazi said, “We have held many meetings on whether to go for PPP or not."
"Most of the people who run the mills are planning to run the mills on the basis of lease. We are thinking in the same way. In the modern age machineries of the then sixties are obsolete" he said.
The Minister said, “Now you have to bring modern machines and modernize your organization to make profit. You have to do more production with less consumption of electricity” adding that we will modernize the mills through new technology.
Former Macro Fiscal Advisor of IMF Dr Reza Kibria said the retrenched BJMC workers should be included in the government’s proposal for modernization of the jute mills.
The government should not abandon those workers, he said.
BJMC proposed to pay a total of Taka 5,000 crore in three fiscal years of which about Taka 4,000 crore for the dues of 24,609 permanent workers of those 25 jute mills and dues of Taka 1,106 for workers who have retired since 2013 for gratuity, provident fund and leave encashment.
But Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, considering the financial plight of the workers, directed to pay all the dues in a lump sum in the current financial year. Besides, in the interest of future financial security and safety of the workers, the Prime Minister has directed to pay 50 per cent of the debt of each worker in cash and remaining 50 per cent in the form of profit-based savings certificates in every three months.
The workers have already been paid in July and August this year without working instead of being served with 60 days' notice as per provision of the labour law. Besides, as per instructions of the Prime Minister, the accounts of all the dues have been finalized and sent to the Ministry of Finance for the purpose of one-time payment. After the necessary audit, the Finance Division has disbursed the required amount for paying off all the dues among the workers.
Jute secretary Lokman Hossain Miah said, “It will be a long process to lease or privatize the closed jute mills and any new jobs for the laid off workers will rely on the contract with new investors
However, he added, it is not clear whether they will get new jobs in modern jute mills at all.
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