Question : COTTON MILLS

MINISTER OF STATE FOR TEXTILES (GINGEE N. RAMACHANDRAN)

(a) : As on 30.06.2000, the details of Cotton / Man-made Fibre Textile Mills in the country and the employees working therein, state-wise, are as follows:

State/Union territory	No. of Mills	No. of workers
Andhara Pradesh	98	49169	Assam	8	3322	Bihar	9	3578	Delhi	1	1318	Gao	1	182	Gujarat	149	173819	Haryana	78	23431	Himachal Pradesh	16	16264	Jammu & Kashmir	2	4113	Karnataka	59	36906	Kerala	36	16657	Madhya Pradesh	60	59651	Maharastra	206	177387	Manipur	1	304	Orrisa	16	15710	Punjab	72	58743	Rajasthan	53	58218	Tamil Nadu	860	201247	Uttar Pradesh	74	82418	West Bengal	39	41126	Daman & Diu	3	371	Dadra Nagar Haveli	3	1318	Pondicherry	11	7985
Total	1855	1033237

(b) & (c) : As on 30.4.2000, the number of sick mills which have been registered with BIFR is 445 mills and the total number of mills closed is 356. The number of workers affected due to closure of these mills is 3,40,000 (Approximately).

(d) & (e) : the steps taken / proposed to be taken to rehabilitate the workers affected and to revive these mills are as follows:

The Government of India has enacted the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, SICA, 1985 and established the BIFR with a view to timely detection of sick & potentially sick companies and for the speedy determination of preventive ameliorative and remedial measures which need to be taken in respect of such companies. The rehabilitation schemes sanctioned by BIFR include various measures like restructuring the capital, induction of fresh funds by the promoters, merger with the other companies, change of management, provision for working capital and term loans by banks and financial institutions.

Besides, in pursuance of the Statement of Textile Policy, 1985, Government have set up the Textile Workers` Rehabilitation Fund Scheme (TWRFS) to protect the interest of workers rendered jobless due to permanent closure or partial closure of textile mills in the private sector. The objective of the TWRFS is to provide interim relief to the eligible workers only for a period of 3 years on a tapering basis, 75% of wage equivalent in the first year, 50% in the second year and 25% in the third year as per norms of the scheme.