| Jute mills in West Bengal reels under labor shortage | |||
| December 23, 2010 | |||
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 The scarcity of labor is a major problem which has hit the jute mills in West Bengal. Several jute mills have been forced to decrease their production hours as well as slash their manufacturing.The jute mills in the state provide employment to 400,000 workers and at present the labor deficit is of 30 percent. The workers are showing their keen interest in various schemes proposed by the government such as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) and they want to get employed under these schemes or in other industries. This is the major factor which has led to the shortage of labor. Within the textile industry, jute mills pay the maximum daily wages to its workers. But, currently, they are finding it extremely challenging to provide employment to a new worker or hold back an old employee. A fresher is paid Rs 227 per day whereas a skilled labor gets Rs 404 daily. The daily wages in other industries of the textile sector remains between Rs 130-140 while under the MGNREGA scheme, a worker earns a daily wage between Rs 150-160. In spite of this, the workers are not willing to work in the jute mills. | |||
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