Overview
- Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Ritabrata Banerjee wrote to Union Textiles Minister Giriraj Singh on January 1 seeking immediate intervention in the raw jute market.
- He cited prices near Rs 12,000 per quintal versus an MSP of Rs 5,650, indicating acute scarcity and extreme volatility.
- The letter attributes the crisis to absent stabilisation buffers and irregular PCSO/GBT demand planning rather than a natural market failure.
- Banerjee's plan urges defined buffer norms with transparent release rules, more predictable and evenly spread PCSO demand, and stronger farmer-facing MSP procurement and payments.
- He reported curtailed shifts and suspensions at several West Bengal mills, loss of worker days, and packaging stress for government foodgrain procurement, with no government response reported yet.