The Nithari killings, election to the CAB, battle against Tatas in Singur, controversy over the change in venue of the book fair, Shilpa Shetty and racism — all these issues have made it to the headlines of late. The news that nearly 200,000 jute mill workers in Bengal have struck work has not generated much interest in the media. Indeed, very few people know that such a strike is on.

In the past, the jute industry attracted considerable attention and any agitation used to be closely followed by the media. Jute still remains one of the pillars of the state economy but neither the media nor the government seems to have given the industry its due. The chief minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, is of the opinion that ailing traditional industries should not be allowed to come in the way of development. The jute industry employs nearly 200,000 people but the emphasis is now on capital intensive industries.

So it is not surprising to see the government not taking much notice of the strike. More so because labour relations have taken a backseat in the seventh Left Front ministry — at the moment, the power minister doubles up as the labour minister. The present dispensation believes in clubbing together different ministries with one man in charge. For instance, health and panchayat have been grouped together to the benefit of neither.

There may be another explanation as well. A labour minister would be expected to uphold workers’ rights and this is not desirable at a time when the chief minister is busy reminding labour unions that they must behave in a responsible manner so as not to put off prospective investors. Moreover, the government has made no attempt to help the jute workers, many of whom are members of unions dominated by the Indian National Trade Union Congress.

Sunset industry

The jute workers on strike are demanding the implementation of tripartite wage agreements as well as the abolition of the practice of filching provident fund dues, a malaise that has hit the jute industry quiet hard. Strangely, the government has done nothing to set right a practice in which money that rightfully belongs to the jute workers is being siphoned off. Sometimes, even the employers do not contribute their share. Despite this, the government has chosen to look the other way, leaving the workers in a lurch.

The minister for industries is busy seeking to sell Bengal to investors, both at home and abroad. That is his job and nobody can blame him for trying to do it well. But he should know that different parts of an economy affect the whole. Thus, one cannot have cheers ringing at Singur, while tears flow down in some other district. Similarly, a chemical hub in the North 24 Parganas would be of little help if the Barrackpore belt grumbles and groans.

No amount of assistance to the ‘sunrise sectors’ will help if the sun continues to set on other industries such as tea and jute. Factors contributing to social maladies will be on the rise as long as these units remain sick. To cite an example, the trouble in Howrah’s Beliliose Road gradually led to the strengthening of mafia gangs, which, today, run a parallel administration in and around the area that was once known as India’s Sheffield.

At the moment, Bhattacharjee is enjoying his reputation of being an ‘investor friendly’ chief minister. However, Bhattacharjee would be better off if he is seen as ‘industry friendly’ rather than ‘investor friendly’. Not only will the chief minister then be able to examine the industrial sector as a whole, but he will also realize that any industry has two components — capital and labour. This is elementary knowledge. But at times, such knowledge may escape the mind, especially if it is preoccupied with the urge to do something too quickly.