Cabinet Approves 'The Handicraft Industry Policy-2015'

The approval was given at the regular weekly meeting of the cabinet held at Bangladesh Secretariat with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, Cabinet Secretary M Musharraf Hussain Bhuiyan said, "The Handicraft Policy-2015" has been framed keeping consistency with the existing mother policy named "The Industries Policy-2010" as the government considers the issue (handicraft industry) as very important.

"One of the aims of the policy of the government is to alleviate poverty by generating employment, and the handicraft industry could play an important role in this regard, as it is labour-intensive, not capital-intensive," he said.

The cabinet secretary said another objective of the policy is to promote the country's traditional culture and heritage through the expansion and preservation of the handicrafts.

"The policy has been framed after discussion with all stakeholders as it has both economical and cultural importance," he said.

Bhuiyan said the issues of goals, implementation and basic programmes for the handicraft industry have been incorporated in the policy.

He said it has kept a provision for enhancing skill and efficiency of the entrepreneurs, providing financial and promotional assistance to the entrepreneurs and undertaking necessary measures to boost the export of handicraft goods.

Under the policy, he said, for coordination of implementation of the policy, there would be a council named "The Handicraft Industry Policy Coordination Council" headed by the industries minister, while another council named "The Handicraft Policy Implementation Council" would be constituted headed by the BSCIC chairman to provide assistance to the coordination council.

The cabinet secretary said a tentative list of handicrafts of 19 categories has been included in the policy and the government would promote and extend support to those entrepreneurs and artisans involved in those handicrafts.

"If implemented, the policy would make important contribution to flourishing the country's handicraft industry," he said.

The first quarterly (January-March) report-2015 on implementation of the decisions taken in the cabinet meetings was also placed in today's cabinet meeting.

The cabinet expressed satisfaction over the rate of implementation of its decisions from January to March this year. Bhuiyan said during the first quarter of the current year, the cabinet held 13 meetings and took 66 decisions, of which 33 were implemented. During the period, he said, the cabinet okayed two policies/strategies and approved three agreements and MoUs.

The cabinet also endorsed two optional holidays -- 29th Choitra and 2nd Boishakh -- for officials and employees of the various ethnic minority groups living in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT).

With the approval of these optional holidays, the cabinet secretary said, from now on the people of these ethnic minority communities could enjoy 29th Choitra and second Boishakh as holidays.

Cabinet members and state ministers concerned attended the meeting, while concerned secretaries were present.

Photo: Saiful Islam Kallol