Nirmalya Mukherjee
The likely selection of Suvendu Adhikary as the proposed chairman of the beleaguered Jute Corporation of India (JCI) has created a stir in the state’s political circles. Suvendu recently switched camps from TMC and joined the BJP.
However, his proposed selection is not unprecedented as Congress MPs Santosh Roy, Dwaipayan Sen and one Idris Ali were also appointed as the Chairman of JCI in the early 70s. Like most public sector bodies JCI at one point was a bed for rehabilitating or recruiting politicians.
If Suvendu is finally selected he would be the fourth politician to become Chairman of JCI 48 years after Dwaipayan Sen was appointed as its third politician chairman in 1973.
JCI was created in 1971 with the object of strengthening the jute sector and protecting the interest of jute growers who are mostly marginal farmers. JCI undertakes Minimum Support Price operations to help jute farmers during distress sale. However, the Corporation is limping financially and infrastructure wise for the past one decade. According to a government observation less than 2 per cent of JCI’s direct purchase centres (DPC)s are operationa. JCI has over 170 DPCs. MSP operations are carried out through a few DPCs.
Political experts feel as Suvendu do not have a back ground in jute or jute development. There could also be some technical glitches on his selection as Chairman of JCI by the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB).
In their opinion Suvendu’s likely selection is to compensate for the post he had lost as the chief of Haldia Development Authority after he shifted camps from TMC to join BJP. Suvendu was a minister in the state cabinet. The selection will also authenticate security benefits that are given to him after he joined the BJP end December 2020.
Says a senior political expert. “ it is ridiculous that hyped and wrong notions are being floated that his new post will be equivalent to the post of a cabinet minister’’.
At present Commodore Ajay Kumar Jolly is the Chairman and Managing Director of JCI. Once Suvendu is selected as Chairman the post will be split.
The government recently appointed Mr Arvind Kumar Sharma, secretary MSME with joint charge as additional secretary in the Textile Ministry.
From 2017 to 2020, Mr Sharma was joint and additional secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). He is a 1988 Gujarat cadre officer previously attached to the Gujarat chief minister’s office as additional and then additional principal secretary.
There are about 112 assembly seats covering 15 jute districts of the state. With state elections only four months away Suvendu could become BJP’s strong face in the jute areas of the state. North Bengal is considered the state’s jute hub with 54 seats.
Projecting Suvendu as a messiah for jute farmers the party would expects to make substantial gains in minority areas of Malda and Murshidabad in South Bengal alongside North Bengal’s South Dinajpur.
These three districts hold the maximum concentration of minority votes in the state. There are 4 million (40 lakh) jute farmers in the state, majority being from the minority community.
Suvendu’s selection might also bring in welcome message to the jute mill areas on both banks of the Ganges. Most of West Bengal’s jute mills are concentrated in Howrah, Hooghly, North and South 24 Parganas along with Nadia. South 24 parganas has the sixth largest concentration of minority votes.
There are about 2.5 lakh jute mill workers. At present five jute of 67 operating jute mills are closed because of very high price and unavailability of raw jute. Raw jute traders have suspended supplies to jute mills since 23 November. Almost 30 thousand jute mill workers are jobless.
DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author’s own.