Handloom sector in dire straits as myriad problems beset it

Badrul Ahsan Handloom units of the country are facing virtual closure due to unavailability of cotton, dyes and chemicals at fair price, shortage of capital and absence of modern cloth processing centres, industry insiders have said. According to a recent study carried out by the ministry of textiles and jute, around 0.192 million handloom units out of 0.5 million in the country have been closed due to the above reasons. Handloom is the second largest labour intensive sector for rural employment after agriculture. Over 1.5 million people are involved with the sector directly or indirectly, the study said. President of Tangail Secondary Weavers' Samity, Habibur Rahman, has slammed the government for not taking any realistic step to save the weavers from their current plight. "There is none in the country to listen to our sufferings," Mr Rahman told the FE adding that, "we have requested the government authorities several times to ensure cotton, dyes and chemicals at fare price for the weavers or withdraw taxes on import of those, but we are yet to have any response from the government's side." According to the National Board of Revenue (NBR), importers of cotton and dyes and chemicals have to pay 15 per cent duties. Member of Bangladesh Handloom Board (BHB) Mahtab Uddin has urged the government to ensure a good amount of loans for the poor weavers so that they can procure ingredients of their products. Mr Mahtab has expressed his dismay saying, "Whatever financial support the handloom owners are getting is not at all useful as it is paltry compared to the need." According to the information of BHB, the government in 1998 has sanctioned Tk 500 million to disburse Tk 12,000 per head among the weavers as loan. But weavers alleged that the amount dose not meet their minimum requirement, which has forced them to shut down handlooms and to turn to other professions. "The government should provide at least Tk fifty thousand in loan to each of the handloom owners," Mr Mahtab said. Chairman of BHB Mustafa Kamal Haider has expressed his disappointment at not getting the approval of the board's proposal for Tk 1.05 billion from the ministry of finance for disbursement among the handloom owners as loan. "In 2009 we have proposed to the ministry of finance to approve Tk 1.05 billion for the handloom sector, but the ministry refused to approve the fund," Mr Haider said. The BHB chairman, however, also informed that they have taken a set of initiatives to save the weavers and also alleviate the grim situation prevailing in the sector through providing different modern facilities. "The board has initiated to balance, modernise, rehabilitate and expand (BMRE) the cloth processing centre (CPC) in Narsingdi at a cost of Tk 297.21million," he added. "Besides, the board also initiated to establish another three different types of service centres in different parts of the country at a cost of Tk 460.52 million. One of them is a Service Facility Centre (SFC) in Narsingdi and the other two are Textile Facility Centres (TFCs) in Sahajadpur and Kalihati." Mr Haider added. According to the information of BHB, through these centres, the board would provide washing, dyeing, calendaring, printing, finishing and some other facilities to the weavers. The BHB chairman expressing his hope also said, "After completion of the initiatives, the handloom sector of the country would eye a big change." The ministry of textiles and jute in the draft of the Textile Policy has found out eight reasons for the closure of the handloom units in the country and offered an eighteen-point suggestion including assurance of availability of financial assistance from the government and ensuring a set of other facilities to the weavers.