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The Ministry of Textiles and Jute (MoTJ) has sought Tk 941 million from the Ministry of Finance to clear eight months of unpaid salaries for officers and employees of the Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC).
The request follows months of financial hardship for more than 2,600 workers tasked with maintaining the state-owned corporation's assets and overseeing its transition to private management.
According to officials, the non-payment has left many employees unable to cover basic living expenses, prompting the MoTJ to urge the Finance Division for urgent intervention.
The corporation has been struggling to meet its payroll obligations since March 2025, despite earlier government allocations to settle previous arrears.
The MoTJ recently sent a formal letter to the Finance Division requesting an immediate release the amount to pay the salaries and allowances owed to 2,634 BJMC staff members.
These include 1,122 officers and 1,512 employees (including those on post-retirement leave) working across BJMC and its controlled jute mills.
The salary arrears currently span March to October 2025.
Earlier, the government cleared a 10-month backlog covering May 2024 to February 2025, following the decision to shut down state-run jute mills and shift operations to private management. However, cash flow constraints have since halted payments again.
Although Tk 240 million was recently released to cover salaries for January and February 2025, it did little to ease the growing financial strain.
"We are working on the issue - it will be resolved shortly," a Finance Division official told The Financial Express.
Following the government's move to reopen mills under private management, 14 have been leased out so far, with production resuming in seven.
The MoTJ and Finance Division are also exploring ways to rationalise BJMC's workforce, including redeploying surplus staff to other state entities.
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