Govt committed to revitalise silk sector

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RAJSHAHI, Feb 16, 2019 (BSS) – The present government is pledged bound to
revitalise the silk sector after the best uses of the existing potentialities
through boosting local yarn.

Various time-fitting measures were adopted so that the lost glory of silk
sector can be revived within near future.

Secretary to Textile and Jute Ministry Mijanur Rahman revealed this while
addressing a view-sharing meeting with officials and employees of Bangladesh
Silk Development Board (BSDB) at its conference hall in Rajshahi city
yesterday.

He urged the BSDB people to discharge their duties with utmost competency,
sincerity and honesty to supplement the government endeavor of fostering the
silk sector.

Chaired by BSDB Director General Abdul Hakim, the meeting was addressed,
among others, by its Members Syeda Zebinnissa Sultana, Nasima Khatun and
Abdul Mannan and Director of Bangladesh Sericulture Research and Training
Institute (BSRTI) Monsur Ali.

Secretary Mijanur Rahman said importance should be given on providing
necessary support and inputs like disinfectant eggs, high yielding mulberry
plants, technical support and soft loan for construction of rearing house
along with ensuring sound marketing facilities.

Mr Rahman said sericulture, a labor- intensive agro- based industry, is
ideally suited to the socio-economic condition of the country and the sector
cover both agriculture and industry.

Referring to various positive aspects of the sector he also said promotion
and expansion of sericulture throughout the country could contribute a lot to
eradicate the acute poverty of the hardcore people of the rural Bangladesh.

As a cottage industry, all family members can work and earn supplementary
income in sericulture and it facilitate four to five crops in a year and
ensure more income requiring less investment and training.

Abdul Hakim told the meeting that BSDB has taken initiative to revive the
silk industry. Accordingly, several projects have already been adopted. A
project has been taken to identify char and khas lands for silk farming.

In the last fiscal year, the board distributed four lakh mulberry
saplings. Sericulture has been incorporated in the ‘Ekti Bari, Ekti Khamar
(EBEK)’ project for strengthening the agro-based economy through reviving the
lost glory of sericulture.

Under the joint venture, around 2.75 lakh mulberry plants were distributed
among 1,680 EBEK members. Some 777 of them were given need-based training on
how to plant and nurse the plants properly.

He said two state-owned silk factories can be restarted in phases through
boosting the production of raw silk locally. Through this, about 10,000
people of the region will get employment opportunities.

On the occasion, the secretary accompanied by BSDB officials visited
different sections of silk factory and BSRTI.