Taskforce seeks govt nod to draft law on sick units
Sunday, 30 May 2010
S M Jahangir
An official taskforce is seeking government permission and necessary guidelines for drafting law on sick industries, officials said.
"The body constituted to place a proposal before the cabinet is seeking the consent of the ministry of industries to the formulation of draft law on sick industries," an official close to the committee told the FE.
Several months after the formation of the new taskforce, it is yet to begin its work in absence of necessary guidelines from the government on its areas of responsibility.
Headed by an additional secretary of the industry ministry, the main job of the 11-member taskforce is to prepare a draft law on sick industries and scrutinise their actual status, officials said.
Before the formation of the taskforce, the industry ministry had also formed two separate committees on sick industries.
Headed by a joint secretary of industry ministry, the responsibility of the first committee was to facilitate drafting of a law on sick industries while the other was responsible to make a list of actual sick units and also identify their problems, a senior official said.
Moreover, a separate body under the directive of the finance ministry is also working simultaneously on the problems of the country's sick industrial units, an official said.
Both the committees had already missed the deadline for submission of their reports to the Taskforce, they said.
Such official moves were initiated to help address the problems with regard to sick industries, either for their rehabilitation or bailout," officials said.
They also said the committees have been formed against the backdrop of frequent demands from the owners of the sick units and country's business leaders.
Owners of sick industries and the country's 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, headed by its president Annisul Haq, met with Finance Minister AMA Muhith a few months back and submitted a list of 147 sick units and made some proposals for settling their problems.
The proposals include suspension of 'Arthorin Adalat' cases against the sick industry owners and taking steps to settlement 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 put forward a 10-point charter of proposals including a bail out package for the sick industrial units.
Several years back, a committee was also formed to deal with the problems of sick units having less than Tk 5.0 million worth of debt each.
According to an earlier estimate, there are 147 different types of sick industries while the number is 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 RGM units, 100 specialised textile units and 80 tanneries.
An official taskforce is seeking government permission and necessary guidelines for drafting law on sick industries, officials said.
"The body constituted to place a proposal before the cabinet is seeking the consent of the ministry of industries to the formulation of draft law on sick industries," an official close to the committee told the FE.
Several months after the formation of the new taskforce, it is yet to begin its work in absence of necessary guidelines from the government on its areas of responsibility.
Headed by an additional secretary of the industry ministry, the main job of the 11-member taskforce is to prepare a draft law on sick industries and scrutinise their actual status, officials said.
Before the formation of the taskforce, the industry ministry had also formed two separate committees on sick industries.
Headed by a joint secretary of industry ministry, the responsibility of the first committee was to facilitate drafting of a law on sick industries while the other was responsible to make a list of actual sick units and also identify their problems, a senior official said.
Moreover, a separate body under the directive of the finance ministry is also working simultaneously on the problems of the country's sick industrial units, an official said.
Both the committees had already missed the deadline for submission of their reports to the Taskforce, they said.
Such official moves were initiated to help address the problems with regard to sick industries, either for their rehabilitation or bailout," officials said.
They also said the committees have been formed against the backdrop of frequent demands from the owners of the sick units and country's business leaders.
Owners of sick industries and the country's 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, headed by its president Annisul Haq, met with Finance Minister AMA Muhith a few months back and submitted a list of 147 sick units and made some proposals for settling their problems.
The proposals include suspension of 'Arthorin Adalat' cases against the sick industry owners and taking steps to settlement 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 put forward a 10-point charter of proposals including a bail out package for the sick industrial units.
Several years back, a committee was also formed to deal with the problems of sick units having less than Tk 5.0 million worth of debt each.
According to an earlier estimate, there are 147 different types of sick industries while the number is 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 RGM units, 100 specialised textile units and 80 tanneries.