Jute mill officials held captive by staff,freed

The protest began on Tuesday evening,after the mill management decided to hold a meeting with the employees on January 24 to discuss their long pending demands. Terming the proposed meeting as yet another effort on part of the management to postpone their demands,the employees held captive D P Bhattar (Advisor),Rajendra Singh (GM Personal) and G Boradia (GM).

It was only after the police and district officials convinced the employees to hold a discussion with the mill management that the three captives were set free. The ADM (City),Shakuntala Gautam,and Additional Labour Commissioner Shriram Singh have called a joint meeting of the mill management and employee unions on January 16. Taking a serious note of the incident,police teams have been deployed within and outside the mill premises.

Moolchand Jain,lease holder of the JK Jute Mill,claimed the situation has gone from bad to worse with the each passing day. “When I took over,the mill had a production of 70 tonne jute per day,now its 40 tonne per day. If similar situation continues,we will have no other option but to close the unit.”

He said that while on one hand production has gone down,on the other,the price of raw jute has increased in the last few months. “Due to heavy financial losses it is not possible for the management to accept all demands of the employees,” Jain said.

Due to financial losses,JK Group,the then owners of the Jute Mill,decided to shut the unit on June 21,2003. In 2007,the ownership of the mill went in the hands of Kolkata-based Sarda and Mall Group and the mill was re-opened on October 20,2008.

The mill management,however,was compelled to suspend work after protests by the employees. In July 2009,Sarda and Mall Group leased out the mill to Bihar-based industrialist Moolchand Jain.

President of JK Mill Mazdoor Panchayat Sangh,Daulat Ram claimed that the employees have made an equal contribution to the re-opening of the mill in 2008. “We compromised on several issues,but the management is not willing to fulfill the commitments made to us,” he said.

The union leader said in 2003,the mill had over 4,000 employees. “Despite the commitment,the mill is yet to take back 1,500 employees,” he said.

Another union leader,Devendra Singh,said: “In April 2008,the management had committed to provide Gratuity Fund to the family of those who had either retired or died while the mill was shut between 2003 and 2008. But nothing has been done so far.”