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Rajshahi female shoe-makers pass busy time ahead of Eid

May 19, 2019 00:00:00


RAJSHAHI, May 18 (BSS): A large number of rural women are passing a busy time making shoes, putting finishing touchesand packaging activities at Kaluhati village in the district ahead of the Eid ul Fitr festival.

More than 2,600 women of the village and its adjacent areas have become financially solvent through making shoes during the last couple of years as the shoe-making venture has become boon for them.

The village under Charghat upazila is famous among businessmen from different parts of the country.

Sources said, the village has around 75 shoe factories employing around 7,500 people and around 2,600 of them are women who are involved in the shoe-making at present.

Along with working in shoe factories, many women have already become small entrepreneurs, manufacturing shoe-packets, bags, key-rings, purses and wallets.

Morjina Begum, 41, wife of Faraj Ali, has been working at Konika Shoes factory for more than seven years. She earns Tk 350 to 400 every day.

She also operates a factory named 'Bhabna Bag and Box' in her house, employing 22 other women.

She initiated the business with primary investment of Tk 20,000 around three years back and now her capital investment stood at above Tk 0.3 million.

While visiting to the village, nearly 30 km away from the Rajshahi city, recently this reporter found that the villagers are running small footwear factories and shops almost everywhere.

The shoe factories were flourished in the village with financial and technical assistance of Small and Medium Enterprises Foundation (SMEF).

Abdul Mannan, president of Kaluhati Shoe Industry Owners' Cooperative Samity Limited, said most of the villagers make footwear from leather and synthetic fabrics using traditional method and the raw materials are procured from the capital city.

Some women have become successful entrepreneurs like Marzina Khatun who has been running her own business for the last three years, he said.

He added that the village witnessed a significant change in the last seven years for successful footwear business.

"We are working here for boosting capability and efficiency of the entrepreneurs for successful business promotion," said Abu Monjoor Sayeef, assistant general manager of SMEF, adding that initial investment was Tk 460 million and recovery rate was cent per cent.


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