Dasgupta deplores both Bengal Govt and centre for jute strike

Kolkata, Feb 5 (UNI) Squarely blaming both the Centre and the Left Government in West Bengal for the continuing jute strike, the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) today called for an immediate intervention to end the crisis.

''The Centre is keeping mum under the pressure of the synthetic lobby while the lamentable failure of the West Bengal Government in solving the problem is a matter of concern. We demand that both the Centre and the state Government take immediate initiative to end the jute strike,'' AITUC General Secretary Gurudas Dasgupta said.

Addressing a press conference, Mr Dasgupta also wanted intervention of Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee into the problem.

''The Chief Minister should come out with statement on the line of one he made a few days ago resolving to set right the problems in the state's tea industry. The Government must protect the state's traditional industries before going for the new ones,'' he said.

Observing that the one-month-long strike in the jute industry was causing a great damage to the state's economy, he apprehended that the situation would worsen after the harvesting season in June-July when the growers would not even get the minimum price.

''If immediate steps are not taken to end the strike, procurement of jute would be hampered and West Bengal, being the largest jute growing state, would be in the soup,'' he said.

Asserting that he would raise the issue in the coming session of Parliament, Mr Dasgupta said the state's Left Front Government should put pressure on the jute mill owners to comply with the workers, who went on an indefinite strike on January five in support of a 14-point charter of demands, including payment of outstanding dearness allowance and provident fund and gratuity to all retired personnel.

In all 2.5 lakh workers of 59 jute mills of West Bengal have been on the strike, called by 20 trade unions, including CITU, AITUC, AITUC and BMS.

''Workers expected the role of the state Government to be more bold and active. But this half heated attitutde and failing to take appropriate steps to resolve the crisis is only helping the mill owners to deny the workers from getting their genuine demands fulfilled,'' he said.

UNI