Two committees on sick industries formed

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S M Jahangir
The government has formed two separate committees to help solve long-standing problems of the country's sick industries, official sources said.
The ministry of industries issued a circular on the formation of the two committees Thursday, a top-ranking ministry official confirmed.
One of the committees has been given the task of drafting a law on sick industries while the other will determine the actual number of sick units and their debt liabilities with banks, the official noted.
"Two committees - one for outlining a draft act on sick industries and the another one for identifying the actual number of sick units in the country - have been constituted," a senior bureaucrat of the industries ministry said.
An additional secretary of the industry ministry will head the body for identifying the sick industries while a joint secretary of the same ministry will lead the draft preparation committee, he mentioned.
The official also said the purpose of forming such committees is to detect the actual number of sick units, the official said.
Another objective is to bring the sick industries under a legal coverage, which is now absent in the country, he noted.
"The initiative could help the government take decisions on the country's sick industries, either for their rehabilitation or exit," said an official.
Official sources, however, said the committees have been formed against the backdrop of frequent demands from the owners of the sick units and country's business leaders.
Different trade bodies including the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) have long been demanding of the government for bailing out the sick industries.
A FBCCI delegation met with the Finance Minister AMA Muhith Thursday and submitted a list of 147 sick units and made some proposals for resolving their problems.
The proposals include suspension of 'Arthorin Adalat' cases against the sick industry owners and taking steps to settle of the outstanding debt that the sick industries owe to banks.
Leaders of the Bangladesh Sick Industries Association (BSIA), led by its President Chowdhury Muhammad Ishak, at a recent meeting also placed a 10-point charter of proposals for bailing out the sick industrial units.
The government previously formed a taskforce to devise a way-out for resolving the problems relating to countries sick industries, especially under the private sector.
Earlier, a committee was also formed to deal the problems of sick units with having less than Tk 5.0 million worth of debt.
According to an earlier estimate, there are as many as 147 different categories of sick industries while the number of sick RMG (readymade garment) specialised textile units are estimated at 270 and 108 respectively.
The BSIA president said recently that the total number of privately-owned sick units could be 700, out of which 270 were RMG units, 100 specialised textile units and 80 tanneries.