Dhaka, July 10 -- The decision to shutdown production at 25 state-run jute mills under the Bangladesh Jute Mill Corporation (BJMC) by providing 100 percent dues of some 25,000 workers of the mills under a golden handshake should probably not have come as a surprise to most people, given the well-documented inability of the mills to operate with any degree of commercial viability over the years.

The decision came at a meeting held with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair at her residence Ganobhaban on June 24.

"Our BJMC can't be viable competing with the private sector. These 25 mills can't run properly. So, some 25,000 workers of the mills have been sufferings as they are not getting salary and dues in time ... So, the Prime Minis...