Ahead of the holy Eid-ul-Azha, the government has taken several pragmatic initiatives to preserve sacrificial animal hides across the country, reports BSS.
These include distributing free salt to madrasas, orphanages, and Lillah boarding houses, offering especial loan facilities to hide traders, and ensuring uninterrupted electricity supply to the BSCIC Leather Industrial City.
A taskforce formed to address the ongoing crisis in the leather industry and ensure the preservation of quality raw hides confirmed the information.
Free salt will be distributed nationwide to madrasas, orphanages, and Lillah boarding houses using government funds to prevent sacrificial hides from being damaged, according to sources from the taskforce responsible for recommending development plans and action strategies for the leather industry.
Procurement activities for salt worth Tk 176 million have already begun. At the same time, arrangements have been made to train meat workers and mosque imams to improve skills in properly skinning and preserving sacrificial hides.
Besides, the government-funded training program aims to reduce hide damage and improve quality.
Last year, there was a plan to purchase 11,571 metric tons of salt within an allocation of Tk 200 million for 9,330 madrasas, orphanages, and Lillah boarding houses.
Based on actual district-level demand, 8,096 metric tons of salt were ultimately distributed. As a result, around 1,379,923 hides were successfully preserved.
According to the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, the number of sacrificial animals available this year is 12,333,840 in the country.
Among them, nearly 5.7 million are cows and buffaloes, 6.6 million goats and sheep, and around 5,500 other animals. The demand for sacrificial animals this year is expected to exceed 10 million.
Preliminary estimates suggest that 80,000 to 85,000 metric tons of salt may be required for hide preservation this year. Around 70,000 metric tons of salt were used in this sector last year.
