Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday, 14 July 2026, visited the ICAR-Central Research Institute for Jute and Allied Fibres (CRIJAF) in Barrackpore, Kolkata, where he met women members of self-help groups engaged in jute-based enterprises, expressing pride at their entrepreneurial journey toward self-reliance.

Context

Posting on X after the visit, the Minister wrote: 'Kolkata ke swayam sahayata samuho ki hamari bahnen jute ke madhyam se aatmnirbharta aur samridhi ki nayi kahani likh rahi hain' — ('Our sisters from Kolkata's self-help groups are writing a new story of self-reliance and prosperity through jute'). He added that products crafted by their hands are 'making their mark in markets across the world,' and that meeting them filled him with pride.

ICAR-CRIJAF, located in Barrackpore on the outskirts of Kolkata, is India's premier research institution for jute and allied natural fibres, responsible for varietal development, technology transfer and product diversification. Kolkata has historically been the nerve centre of India's jute processing and export trade.

Policy Backdrop

The visit connects to two long-standing policy pillars. The Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), launched in 2011, has mobilised millions of rural women across India into self-help groups, providing them access to savings, credit and micro-enterprise support. The Jute Technology Mission, launched in 2006, was designed to modernise jute cultivation, diversify end-products beyond traditional sacking and hessian, and strengthen market linkages for growers and artisans alike.

Together, these frameworks have enabled ICAR institutes such as CRIJAF to act as technology bridges — disseminating innovations in natural-fibre processing directly to SHG clusters. Mandatory jute packaging norms and export incentives have further expanded the commercial runway for SHG-made jute goods in both domestic and international markets.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary beneficiaries are rural and peri-urban women in West Bengal who have organised into self-help groups to produce jute bags, home-décor items, apparel accessories and other diversified products. Their integration with an ICAR research institute provides access to improved fibre varieties, processing techniques and design inputs that raise product quality to export standards.

Jute artisans and small manufacturers in the Kolkata belt also stand to gain from stronger institutional linkages, while the broader policy goal of reducing single-use plastic consumption gives natural-fibre products a structural demand advantage in both regulated procurement channels and global eco-conscious retail markets.

What's Next

The Minister's field engagement with jute SHGs signals continued political attention to natural-fibre livelihoods ahead of the next Union Budget, where announcements on jute diversification funding, SHG marketing support or revisions to jute packaging regulations could follow. Parliamentary discussions on fibre research allocations and NRLM expansion are also worth watching as the government seeks to scale SHG success stories from West Bengal to other jute-growing states.