Speaking at the press conference at the National Press Club in the city, Md Mizanur Rahman Bhuiyan said the then Ershad government sold off the mill to Giridhari Modi who renamed the mill as Uttara Jute Fibers and Industries Ltd in 1990.

In the face of recurring loss of the mill, the government sold it without considering the payment of arrears of its workers who owed the mill Tk 71 crore, he said, adding that the sum was accumulated due to the non-payment of workers' and employees' payments from 1968 to 1983.

The government handed the mill over to the new authorities with a pledge that it would recruit the former workers and employees on priority basis and also make arrangements for the payment of their arrears, he said. But the workers have not got their arrears yet, he added.

The workers and employees of the mill are suffering much due to non-payment of their arrears, he said.

Mizan, who read out a written statement, said 49 nationalised jute mills were sold and all the mill workers except those of Ashraf Jute Mills got their payments.

Dewan Abul Bashar, Sirajul Islam and others were also present there.