Closure of 67 unviable NTC mills, 18 for modernisation: Govt

New Delhi, Aug 22 (UNI) The Government today informed the Rajya Sabha that as per Modified Revival Scheme (MRS) approved by the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) for National Textile Corporation (NTC), 67 unviable and chronically sick mills have been closed under Industrial Disputes (ID) Act and 55,455 employees have gone for retirement under Modified Voluntary Retirement Scheme (MVRS).

In Maharashtra State, 20 unviable mills have been closed and 17,471 employees have gone under MVRS.

Minister of State for Textiles E V K S Elangovan told the Upper House in a written reply that Government/NTC have identified 18 NTC mills for modernisation through Joint Venture Route. The proposal for Joint Venture route has been approved by the BIFR and Group of Ministers (GOM) as part of revival scheme.

The Minister denied that the jute industry was in a bad shape. The Government has announced National Jute Policy, 2005 which resolves that ''jute industry will receive a fresh impetus in all respects.'' It also launched the Jute Technology Mission (JTM) to address all the issues relating to jute sector.

Mr Elangovan further said that 100 per cent compulsory packaging for foodgrains and sugar in jute bags during jute year 2007-08, under the provisions of Jute Packaging Materials Act, 1987 has been ordered.

The Minister also informed that considering the projected demand of 4 million trained manpower in the garment industry over the next 4-5 years, Textiles Ministry has prepared a Scheme for Neighbourhood Apparel and Textiles Training Institutes for Job Assistance (NATIJA).

The Scheme, which is presently under consideration of the Government, has been formulated for establishing a network of employment-linked training facilities in basic textile and garment manufacturing technology.

UNI