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Labour leaders of the jute industry Sunday pressed the government for immediate measures to revive what they said was the golden industry of Bangladesh.

At a press conference, organised by a committee of jute mill workers in Khulna, they said the past governments had not made efforts to revive the once-profitable industry.

"The present caretaker government's last budget did not address the issue either. We hope that this government will neither close nor lease out the jute mills but will allocate necessary resources in the next budget to save the industry," Khalid Hossain, a member of the committee, told reporters.

They said that 32,000 workers and their families of eight state-owned jute mills in Khulna would fall in deep trouble if the mills were shut down.

They demanded faster payment of outstanding salaries, a revised salary structure for shift workers and a coordinated effort by economists, workers, farmers and the government to salvage the industry.

Recently, the six sate-owned jute mills of Khulna zone have appointed workers on a daily basis in violation of labour laws, which hurts productivity, according to a written statement released by the committee. The state-owned jute mills are divided into three zones, namely Dhaka, Chittagong and Khulna.

"There are no daily workers in the other two zones. So, workers of this zone are demoralised," Liakat Ali, an adviser of the committee, told bdnews24.com.

The committee asked the media to raise the issue for increased awareness of sufferings of the industry as well as the workers and asked the government to address the issue in the upcoming budget.