A number of actions has been taken by Office of Jute Commissioner against the persons and firms indulging in malpractices. Several complaints have been lodged to the law enforcing agencies against firms for breaching the provisions of the Jute and Jute Textiles Control Order, 2016. Orders imposing prohibition of supply have been issued against firms indulging in unfair practices. Search and seizure operations have also been issued under provisions of Jute & Jute Textiles Control Order, 2016. Complaints raised by State Foodgrain Procurement Agencies (SPAs) on damaged bales/short receipts through online portal (Jute SMART) are being verified through a Joint Inspection (JI) and appropriate action is being contemplated/taken on the supplier jute mills as per provisions of the Jute & Jute Textiles Control Order, 2016.

 

Some of the steps taken by the Office of the Jute Commissioner to control the irregularities in the jute sector which adversely affect the jute business are:

 

• An end-to-end web-based platform has been developed since November, 2016 for procurement, inspection and dispatch of B. Twill jute bags by the State Procurement Agencies as per JPM Act, 1987 which is transparent, rule based, simple to use and real time.

 

• To prevent and control black-marketing, stocking and speculation in raw jute and its enhanced price monitoring, the Jute Commissioner is entitled with the power to regulate stocks of raw jute by any manufacturer, specify the maximum quantity of raw jute possessed in a given time period,  regulate the capacity of the manufacturer to manufacture jute textiles as well as the need to maintain stability in the prices of raw jute and the power to ensure easy availability of raw jute from any stockist.

 

• To check the flow of illegal imports, in accordance with powers vested under the Jute & Jute Textiles Control Order, 2016, Jute Commissioner had issued Notifications directing all Manufacturers, Importers, Processors and Traders to mark/ print/ brand certain words on the items of jute and jute textiles. In case of import of jute bags, the words “Bag made in – Country of Origin” are required to be marked/ printed/ branded. As on 20^th November 2019, 503 importers and 331 traders have registered their units with Office of Jute Commissioner and are required to submit monthly reports providing details of imports in a given format.

Government has not revised the ceiling of the prices of jute bags.

This information was given by the Union Minister of Textiles, Smriti Zubin Irani, in written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.

 

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MM/ SB

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