No More Jhoot With Jute!

Before the partition of Bengal, the jute industry in Bengal was at its peaks. Jute used to cultivate in the eastern part of Bengal and processed in the western part of Bengal. However, the partition of Bengal changed things drastically. West Bengal, where most jute mills are, has failed to import jute from East Pakistan due to bilateral tensions. Things didn’t change even after the creation of Bangladesh. I don’t know the reasons why it got stopped but the moot point is that jute stopped coming from Bangladesh to West Bengal. Adding more insult to the injury, militant unionism in West Bengal severely damaged the jute industry. The government also didn’t try to revive the industry. The invention of plastic and plastic products is another reason behind the downfall of the jute industry.

I think it is the right time to revive the industry. The threat of climate change is looming large. If we care about our planet then we should shift to jute from plastic. Jute is bio-degradable, recyclable, and 100% nature friendly. A hectare of jute plants consumes about 15 tonnes of carbon dioxide and releases 11 tonnes of oxygen.

From West Bengal's perspective, it has all the ready-facilities to manufacture jute products. Howrah has numerous jute mills, mostly inoperative, which can easily be reopened and manufacture jute products. Trade unionism has taken a back seat since the opening of India’s economy. It means jute mill owners don’t have to face problems as much they used to face previously. The cost of labor in West Bengal is less than the rest of India. It means jute owners can invest in automation also. Regardless of your political ideology, you can’t ignore that automation in the manufacturing sector. And if West Bengal fails to acknowledge it then it will miss the bus.

The foundation of the Bengal economy is agriculture. Now the government needs to pay focus on the revival of jute cultivation. They should turn the one-crop-land into the land where jute can be cultivated. This will not hamper the cultivation of seasonal agricultural products. In short, West Bengal doesn't have to depend on Bangladesh.

                                          (Source: Creative Commons License)