Govt decides to sell country’s oldest jute mill

The Government of Nepal has taken a decision to sell the state-owned Biratnagar Jute Mill (BJM), the oldest jute mill in the country, to a private party by retrenching its entire workforce. About 1,100 workers will get affected due to the sell-off of this mill, which has remained closed due to the intensifying disputes between the management and workers of the mill for more than one year. In order to clear the unpaid dues of the mill workers, accord has been drawn under the tripartite agreement between employees, management and government officials. To settle these unpaid dues the government will have to bear a liability of about Rs. 600 million.As per this tripartite agreement, the dues will be cleared before the Dashain festival. A series of protests have been staged in the past by the mill workers demanding restart of the mill or clearance of their unpaid dues. However, they suspended their protest after formation of a committee, to deal with the related issues, by the Finance Minister during his visit to the trading city in eastern Nepal.