B'Baria sweetmeat industry losing glory
Monday, 23 March 2009
Our Correspondent
BRAHMANBARIA, Mar 22: Sweetmeat industry is on the verge of extinction in the district as the prices of ingredents have increased manifold and gone beyond the makers' buying capacity.
The local sweetmeat items like Chhanamukhi, Rossmalai, Rajbhjog, Monda, Amirthi, Kalojam, Shahijilipi, Jilipi, Misthi and Talk Dadhi, Matha are of a great demand in the market.
Everyday hundreds of kilogrammes of sweetmeat are selling and going to Dhaka, Chittagong, Habigonj, Moulvibazar, Sylhet, Sunamganj, Narsingdi, Kishorganj, Mymensing as well as other districts of the country.
They are also sent to India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, The KSA, the USA, the UAE, the UK, Singapore, Malaysia, Italy, Japan and Australia.
But artisans of sweetmeat industry cannot run their business properly due to price hike of ingredents. Production cost has become higher than the selling price. At present, the prices of sugar, edible oil and milk are increasing day by day.
Talking to the correspondent, some sweetmeat artisans of New Cinema Road of Brahmanbaria town, who are engaged in their ancestral profession, said earlier their profession was a lucrative and profitable one. But now they have been passing their days in abject poverty.
Of the sweetmeat item sellers of the district, Bholanath, Bholagiri, Adarsha Mathri Bhandar, Bhogwati Mistanna Bhandar, Loknath Misti Ghar etc are still running their traditional business with hardship. But most artisans find it difficult to continue and are switching over to other professions.
Conscious local citizens said that necessary measures should be taken immediately by the concerned authorities to save the age-old industry from extinction and to preserve and the country's industry of heritage.
BRAHMANBARIA, Mar 22: Sweetmeat industry is on the verge of extinction in the district as the prices of ingredents have increased manifold and gone beyond the makers' buying capacity.
The local sweetmeat items like Chhanamukhi, Rossmalai, Rajbhjog, Monda, Amirthi, Kalojam, Shahijilipi, Jilipi, Misthi and Talk Dadhi, Matha are of a great demand in the market.
Everyday hundreds of kilogrammes of sweetmeat are selling and going to Dhaka, Chittagong, Habigonj, Moulvibazar, Sylhet, Sunamganj, Narsingdi, Kishorganj, Mymensing as well as other districts of the country.
They are also sent to India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, The KSA, the USA, the UAE, the UK, Singapore, Malaysia, Italy, Japan and Australia.
But artisans of sweetmeat industry cannot run their business properly due to price hike of ingredents. Production cost has become higher than the selling price. At present, the prices of sugar, edible oil and milk are increasing day by day.
Talking to the correspondent, some sweetmeat artisans of New Cinema Road of Brahmanbaria town, who are engaged in their ancestral profession, said earlier their profession was a lucrative and profitable one. But now they have been passing their days in abject poverty.
Of the sweetmeat item sellers of the district, Bholanath, Bholagiri, Adarsha Mathri Bhandar, Bhogwati Mistanna Bhandar, Loknath Misti Ghar etc are still running their traditional business with hardship. But most artisans find it difficult to continue and are switching over to other professions.
Conscious local citizens said that necessary measures should be taken immediately by the concerned authorities to save the age-old industry from extinction and to preserve and the country's industry of heritage.