Govt sanctions BJMC Tk 2.70b to buy raw jute, pay wages to employees

The government to help the state run entity has sanctioned Tk 2.70 billion in favour of Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC). The BJMC would not utilize the funds other than for the payment of gratuity and wages to its employees and the purpose of purchasing raw jute. The repayment has to be made through account payee cheques.

Now the state-run entity is operating 26 mills, including three non-jute industries. There are seven mills in Dhaka zone, ten in Chittagong and nine in Khulna.

The finance division under the ministry of finance (MoF) allocated the funds through an office order on Monday last, setting some conditions for the allocation and its repayment process.

The details of the spending history of the funds will have to be submitted to the finance ministry within next three months since the date of fund release. Spending has to be audited by a chartered accountant firm, according to the order.

The existing rules and regulations on public funds expenditure will have to be strictly maintained and the official concerned will be responsible if the payment is provided beyond the existing rules and regulations, the order says.

The conditions and formalities will have to be strictly followed as per the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed among the finance ministry, the ministry of textiles and jute and BJMC.

The order states that no financial proposal will be accepted in the current fiscal year or next fiscal year if the agency violates the MoU.

BJMC’s 10.33 acres of land were handed over to the youth and sports ministry in exchange of Tk 10 billion. Allocation has been made from the land price.

At present, the BJMC is the biggest employer in the industrial sector of the country. It provides direct jobs to about 70,000 workers as well as 5,500 officers and employees supporting the livelihood of around 6.0 million farm families. More than 50 million people are directly or indirectly involved with jute and jute industry.

The corporation has set target to procure 2.57 million bales of raw jute in the current fiscal year (FY 2016-17). An amount of Tk 12 billion will be required to meet the procurement target, according to the data available with the BJMC.