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Business News/ Companies / News/  Questions hang over West Bengal’s jute mill CEO’s murder
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Questions hang over West Bengal’s jute mill CEO’s murder

Northbrook owner says his workers couldn't have committed the crime, extortionists instigated the violence

The Union government has in phases allowed dilution of a law under which food grains and sugar had to be compulsorily dispatched in jute bags. The law was introduced to protect the livelihoods of jute workers—currently around 300,000—and four million cultivators. Photo: Indranil Bhoumik/MintPremium
The Union government has in phases allowed dilution of a law under which food grains and sugar had to be compulsorily dispatched in jute bags. The law was introduced to protect the livelihoods of jute workers—currently around 300,000—and four million cultivators. Photo: Indranil Bhoumik/Mint

Kolkata: It isn’t the first time that a manager of a jute mill in West Bengal has been lynched by agitated workers, but what is surprising about Sunday’s labour unrest at Northbrook Jute Co. Ltd, which led to the killing of its chief executive (works), is the apparent lack of provocation.

Northbrook’s workers didn’t take kindly to the management’s proposal to scale back production, which for them means a pay cut. But in the past few months, several mills in the state have had to cut production to 60-65% of capacity to stay afloat. It has pretty much become the norm and is the only alternative to shutting shop.

The theory that workers got riled up at the prospect of a pay cut so much that they killed the works manager is unconvincing, said a Hooghly district officer, asking not to be named. Worse still, they continue to threaten to take the warpath unless the management agrees to run the mill at full capacity, this person added.

A large number of Northbrook’s workers privately said on Monday that they didn’t regret the killing of H.K. Maheswari, and that they would not give up the fight—and it might not be any less violent—if the management cuts production. This is unusual, admitted the district official.

In the wake of violence, the mill has suspended production, joining three others in the state that are not in operation.

Jute mill managers have mostly been killed in retaliatory attacks. Notoriously in 2001, in Baranagar Jute Mill, its manager was burnt alive by workers, but only after he fired at a worker, killing him. Within days workers typically beat a retreat—they did so in Baranagar, too, which ran peacefully ever since.

Sunday’s incident could, on the one hand, be an indication of the growing desperation among jute workers amid rising living costs—they are unable to make ends meet if they do not receive full pay, said Ghanshyam Sarda, chairman of the Sarda Group.

If so, the killing of Maheswari could turn into a “contagion", triggering labour unrest in several struggling mills unless the state administration takes firm steps, not only against the criminals responsible for it but also to pressure the Union government to procure more jute bags, said Sarda, who runs at least six mills.

“Managers of my mills, too, are scared," said Sanjay Kajaria, who owns three mills. “We had seen this coming from a distance."

On the other hand, Sunday’s incident could be the result of a widespread deterioration of the law and order situation in the state.

Following the general election, there have been several clashes, some between activists of rival political parties and some among neighbourhood leaders of the Trinamool Congress.

In the past few weeks, several such clashes between Trinamool Congress activists, mostly over the supply of construction materials, led to killings in Rajarhat, a new township being developed on the outskirts of Kolkata.

“Workers of my mill could not have committed this crime," said Prakash Choraria, Northbrook’s owner.

Though he did not name any political party, he said “extortionists" had likely instigated the violence. There’s nothing new in jute mill managers having to deal with extortionists, “but this time it went too far", according to Choraria.

Hours before Maheswari was killed, Northbrook’s management had discussions with the labour unions in which Choraria had said he was looking to scale back production for 15 days to deal with the current crisis. Still in a state of shock, Choraria said that alone could not have resulted in Maheswari being beaten to death.

Trinamool Congress leaders, including chief minister Mamata Banerjee, on Sunday blamed trade unions affiliated to rival Left parties and the Bharatiya Janata Party for instigating violence at Northbrook, saying its own labour arm didn’t have any presence at all in the jute mill.

But Sovandeb Chattopadhyay, veteran leader and lawmaker of the Trinamool Congress, said at least 1,000 of Northbrook’s workers are supporters of his party’s labour wing, Indian National Trinamool Trade Union Congress. But according to him, ultra-left labour unions, which are surreptitiously making inroads, could have been responsible for the incident. Such unions have led several movements in jute mills even lately, most notably at Loomtex on the northern fringes of Kolkata.

At least six people have been arrested and remanded in custody for Sunday’s incident, but their political inclinations aren’t immediately known.

The crisis in the jute industry stems from the Union government cutting procurement and falling price of jute bags in the open market. The Indian Jute Mills Association (Ijma), a lobby group, said in a statement on Monday that the state government was forewarned by it of potential law and order collapse in mills.

Because mills were starved of orders between February and May, most mills are unable to produce at full capacity, resulting in “simmering discontent" among workers. Ijma said in its statement that it was requesting chief minister Banerjee to lobby the Union government to make jute bags mandatory for packaging of food grains and sugar.

The Union government has in phases allowed dilution of a law under which food grains and sugar had to be compulsorily dispatched in jute bags. The law was introduced to protect the livelihoods of jute workers—currently around 300,000—and four million cultivators.

“The government remains fully committed to support the jute industry," said Subrata Gupta, jute commissioner. “We are willing to consider any suggestion from the industry on how we could help it grow and become sustainable."

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Published: 17 Jun 2014, 12:04 AM IST
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